《The Exiled Hunter - (LITRPG/SURVIVAL)》 Chapter 01 - Exiled One centimeter at a time, my body moved to the side until I slowly fell with my face on the deck. I groaned a bit in pain and I slowly began to wake up thanks to it. Everything looked dark at first, but then things got less blurry instead as I opened my eyes. All of a sudden, a cold wave hit him and then made him roll onto the deck. The cold water surprised me and woke me up in no time, thanks to the shock. I tried to get up, but I failed to move my arms. They were tied on my back for some reason. I raised my head a bit and then looked around in confusion. It didn¡¯t take long for me to realize that I was on the deck of a dark ship. ¡°Good day, hero. It seems that you were unlucky enough to wake up before the right time. Well, fear not. The trip is about to end.¡± An amused voice came from behind and then I saw a man wearing weird clothes while holding the wheel of the ship. He looked exactly like a pirate would look in the final centuries of middle ages, the weird hat, the eyepatch, and the overly fancy clothes that were old, dirty, and worn out as well thanks to the sea breeze. I couldn¡¯t make much else of his appearance thanks to the surrounding darkness. It was night, and it was very cloudy as well¡­ I could see some flashes of lightning in the distance, but that didn¡¯t help me see things at all. When I looked to the side, I saw a bunch of people on the side. They were wearing more modern clothes, sweatpants, jeans, sneakers, and so on. They were all tied up like me, and they were as unconscious as they could be since the waves were hitting them and they weren¡¯t waking up. ¡°What the fuck is going on? Is this some sort of weird show?¡± ¡°Worry not, hero. You will come to understand everything soon. I have a good feeling about you, so enjoy the trip.¡± ¡°There is the port, captain!¡± ¡°Raise the sails and prepare to unload our heroes ashore. We don¡¯t have all day, so get moving.¡± A bunch of people began to move around working following the captain¡¯s orders and thanks to that, I had the chance to force myself to get up. I felt like a worm twisting my body to pull that off. Still, I soon regretted that as I looked at the surroundings. Behind me, I could see an insane storm with several whirlwinds in the distance, as if they were blocking the path I came from. In the other direction, I could see an island that expanded immensely on the horizon. We were heading there, but the island passed me some serious bad vibes. I gulped as I tried to recall what had happened¡­ My name is Sean¡­ Sean, what? I couldn¡¯t recall. My profession? I couldn¡¯t recall it either. The last thing that I could recall was¡­ when it felt that an image was about to form in my head, I felt a painful headache like something had hit me , or like I tried to recall something that I shouldn¡¯t. This wasn¡¯t good. While I was trying to recall anything, soon the ship anchored for a bit and then I got kicked on the back as the crew began to put the unconscious people on their shoulders to carry them to the beach. I ended up hitting my face on the deck, but soon managed to get up. ¡°If you are awake, then get up and move. Unless you want me to kick you into the ocean while you are still tied.¡± I looked at the guy who kicked me and glared, but soon my expression softened when I saw what seemed to be a curved sword at his waist¡­ that felt odd and out of place, but at least it made me realize that I shouldn¡¯t go against those guys, at least for now. Nothing good would come out of trying to look brave when I can¡¯t move my arms and the opponent has weapons with them. Slowly, the ship approached the port that was basically a single bridge made of old wood and filled with holes. I hesitated on stepping on that, but soon he saw those crew members carrying two people on their shoulders stepping in, so I did the same, following their footsteps. In the distance, I saw some torches, but I also saw the sky brightening a bit in the distance. Morning was coming. After crossing the bridge, the pirates threw the prisoners on the sand and the impact made them groan in pain. They finally began to wake up little by little. In front of them, those figures with the torches stepped forward and watched them, but soon I noticed their eyes on me. There were two men with torches in their hands and hammers on their backs¡­ war hammers. The one leading them was a red-haired woman with a short ponytail and green eyes. She had two crossbows on her sides and a spear on her back. She had this air of a dangerous beauty, the type who would lick her lips while she put crossbows on my chest without hesitation. ¡°Why is this one awake already?¡± ¡°Why would I know? Maybe he was sleeping before he was brought here.¡± The red-haired woman asked, and the captain replied behind me. He looked amused as ever as he saw everyone getting up and some people vomiting. Even though they were sleeping, it seemed that the shaking of the ship still affected them. Still, I was surprised to see close to one hundred prisoners counting with me. Fortunately, once everyone was brought here, the pirates began to untie us¡­ that was good since I was starting to feel my fingers getting numb. I massaged my wrists while looking around. ¡°Listen here, heroes¡­ you have been brought to this world to fight for us. You don¡¯t have any other option here. We don¡¯t have money or food to share with useless people.¡± The redhead looked truly disgusted as she said that¡­ the captain also called me that, but his tone was always the mocking type. It was safe to assume that they were the cause why we were here, but were they also the cause that I can¡¯t remember anything? ¡°We are at war against many types of enemies. Monsters, demons, demi-humans, elves, and so on. This is a world where only the strong can survive. If you prove your worth, we will reward you, but if you can¡¯t even fend for yourself, you will suffer a fate worse than death at the hands of the enemies. Follow me.¡± Everyone looked as confused as they could be while looking at each other, I could tell that I was showing the same expressions as I did before and considering their whispers, they also lost their memories and could only recall their names¡­ I didn¡¯t feel like I knew any of them and it didn¡¯t look like they recognized each other either. It was probably hard to recognize anyone when they didn¡¯t know anything aside from their names. Still, none of their faces made me feel anything. Everyone followed the woman while the other two stayed at the back of the group. It looked like the pirates would stay behind. We began to cross a forest while following the redhead. The light was limiting, but the sun was rising in the distance and the clouds were dispersing as well. Aside from some people tripping, nothing major happened. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Around two hundred years ago, you people began to appear in our world. We didn¡¯t know why you were here and neither did any of you. At first, we tried to live in harmony, but then some of you joined the enemy''s side and then started the conflicts. Even now, some of you so-called heroes join the enemy¡¯s side to make things even more complicated. Thanks to them, all of you will have to fight. If you don¡¯t like this, then obtain the power to do things as you see fit, but you won¡¯t receive support from us.¡± That made them sound like they weren¡¯t the cause of us being here¡­ it also made it sound like we didn¡¯t belong here. I wanted to ask some questions, but I wondered if it would be a good idea to stop her now. I didn¡¯t want to draw any more attention to myself. In this kind of situation, people like me end up becoming the target of people like her to be made an example out of. ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken, our people are fighting too, but we can trust them, but we can¡¯t say the same about you all. At least for now. If you prove yourself useful, you will have a decent life here. If you use your head, you will prosper and live a long life. If you show your bravery, you will obtain a place among us. Fail to have to accomplish that and your life is pretty much over here.¡± She went quiet after that, but soon we were able to find a bit of an open area ahead. Some trees had been chopped down, and the area cleaned to create something like a fortress. It didn¡¯t seem that reliable at all, and if they had one so close to the ocean already, I could only guess that their situation was quite bad. Then again, perhaps their territory was beyond the ocean or something and this place was just a bonus that they needed or wanted¡­ I had thought that they wanted a defensive force to protect their land, but they probably wanted some people like us to work as cannon fodder for their expansion plans. ¡°This is one of the human alliance bases. You will be able to find anything that you need to live here. Food, lodge, clothes, armor, weapons, and so on. Right now, we aren¡¯t preparing for anything big, so you guys will have the chance to adjust to your new life slowly, but soon all of our forces will have to move and you will have to follow.¡± The gate of the fortress was opened and the sound of the wood being moved echoed as the gate emerged from the ground. The place looked a lot bigger than we were able to see from outside¡­ There were even some houses made of stone, but most of them were rather simple and made of wood as well¡­ in the distance, I could see something that appeared to be like a giant crystal emitting a lot of light. That light only grew more powerful as the sky cleared and morning arrived fully. We crossed the gate and soon found some armed and armored guys on the side. There were two pairs on each side and they looked dangerous while they studied the newcomers. The people of the fortress also studied us and whispered amongst themselves. The place looked far more mundane than I had expected¡­ it looked like a fortress from outside, but it also looked like a militaristic town from inside. It didn¡¯t have more combatants than anything. It had around ten civilians for each combatant and they were supposed to offer support to them. Among those people, I was able to see some people that looked old, like over sixty and we¡¯re missing a limb or two¡­ when our eyes locked, I immediately realized that they were like me¡­ people who came from who knows where to this place and has been here for decades or maybe that was just my impression. It seemed that our arrival was quite the commotion. It stopped the whole town. Shops, restaurants, inns, and even buildings that looked like dojos stopped to see us heading to that crystal. When we finally reached it, we confirmed that it was five meters tall and three meters wide, but the shape was hard to describe. Regardless, the redhead turned around to see us. ¡°Once you touch this crystal, you can obtain some power to fight, and that will even unlock your true potential. Choose the option that you all feel the most comfortable with and don¡¯t worry about missing out on anything because you can obtain those options later. Let¡¯s see¡­ you. Step forward and then touch the crystal.¡± The redhead looked at me and pointed at me as well¡­ I knew that I would stand out, eventually. Still, it was better not to waste time and not make a fool out of myself here. I didn¡¯t know what would happen in the future, but I could tell that I couldn¡¯t look pathetic or indecisive in front of so many people and at such a moment. I stepped forward and then touched the crystal without hesitation. It began to glow and its life enveloped me. Amidst the light, I saw something that seemed familiar.
Choose one of the following classes:
Archer Thief Fighter Alchemist Spearman Bard Squire Priest Warrior Mage
Several copies of myself appeared in front of me wearing different types of clothes. Each one of them seemed like they fit the titles that I could see. When I focused on a title, the image referent of that title would appear in front of me with those clothes. All of them left quite the impression on me, but I didn¡¯t know which one to pick¡­ based on the order, I would say that the first three ones gave me a good feeling of how they agreed with me. I imagined the safest option would be mage, to be able to use magic and attack enemies from a distance. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard, but considering my body, I imagined that the first three options were indeed the best options. I felt that I also woke up earlier than the others because I was in better shape. Maybe I did something before coming here that made me work with my body. I wasn¡¯t big, but I was lean. In the end, I chose the first option and then the light vanished. Sean Primary Classes: Archer Lv 01 Health: 80/80 Mana: 100/100 Stamina: 100/100 Strength: 09 Dexterity: 10 Magic: 06 Vitality: 08 Spirit: 10 Endurance: 10 Luck: 05 Free Points: 00 Techniques: Spells: Effects: Once again, I felt a powerful sense of nostalgia, like I had seen this many times before. The window slowly decreased in size until it stopped at the left corner of my vision. Still, my clothes looked the same. My blue sneakers, my grey sweatpants and my hoodie of the same color. I had a bracelet made of crystal on my left wrist, though. Still, I was easily able to take it out. ¡°Keep that to yourself. It is a link to the crystal. As long as you have that, you can find the direction of the closest crystal. This can also register how many monsters and enemies you have slain and once you approach any crystal, you will receive your rewards from it.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°You will see it when you do it for the first time. Anyway, tell me the options that you saw and which of them you choose.¡± That didn¡¯t feel like the smart thing to do¡­ not telling also wouldn¡¯t be very smart since I would stand out even more. For now, I have to make myself useful to these people until I can obtain more information and I can obtain the tools to fend for myself. ¡°Ten options, huh? That is the limit. Most people only get three¡­ you don¡¯t look like a big deal, but maybe you have some experience or you tried a lot of things before. Regardless, I don¡¯t have time for this. Go to the southern side of the fortress and present yourself to the hunter¡¯s guild. You will receive your training and your basic equipment there. You will also have the chance to use the place there for one week and have free food as well. After that, you will have to rely on yourself and your skills to survive and show that you aren¡¯t a waste of air.¡± There were a lot of things that I wanted to ask about this situation, but the redhead made me leave just like that. The fact that the other prisoners stepped forward as she called for them also made things difficult for me. In any case, my only option was to look for the hunter¡¯s guild and hope that the people there were more understanding. Chapter 02 - The Basics Finding the Hunter¡¯s Guild was easy. It was the largest building in the southern side of the town. It actually was the size of an entire block and there was this massive wooden statue of a hooded woman with a bow ready to shoot an arrow as well. ¡®I need to make the most out of this mess, so I can¡¯t waste time hesitating.¡¯ I got inside the guild and the place looked like an archery stand with several slots for people to practice. I couldn¡¯t see any target at the ends of the stand, though. When I looked to the side, I saw what seemed to be a corridor that could lead to another part of the guild, so I headed there. It had a wooden door there too, but it soon opened before I could get too close. The person that showed up looked like the wooden statue outside. A woman, who was also a hooded huntress that emitted an aura of precision and deadly grace. She wore a deep forest-green cloak, its hood drawn low over her face, casting shadows that obscure all but the glint of her sharp, watchful eyes. Beneath the cloak, she was clad in fitted leather armor, reinforced with darkened steel plates at vital points, crafted for both protection and flexibility. The armor was dyed in muted earth tones, allowing her to blend seamlessly into the wilderness. Her quiver, strapped diagonally across her back, had an array of carefully created arrows, each tipped with obsidian. A recurve bow, wrapped in worn leather for a firm grip, was at her side, its string taut and ready. A curved hunting knife was sheathed at her belt, alongside a small pouch. Her boots were silent against the floor, their soles worn smooth from years of movement unseen. Beneath the hood, strands of raven-black hair slip free, tousled by the wind. She was pretty, but she also had that expression that said that only fools would approach her to say that to her. ¡°Are you one of the newcomers? What is your name?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ it is Sean.¡± ¡°The name is Matilda, the head huntress of the guild. It is Master Matilda to you. Do you understand? Respond with an: yes, master.¡± ¡°... Yes, Master.¡± I hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was truly necessary. At least that made me realize that I was a bit rebellious toward those who wanted to order me around for no apparent reason. Maybe I wasn¡¯t a bit rebellious, and that was just the normal response in that kind of situation. Regardless, that showed a bit of what kind of person I was before. ¡°You look in shape. Usually, only lazy bums who don¡¯t want to move their bodies that much would come here. Still, soon they come to understand that this place isn¡¯t as easy as they assume. To become a hunter, you need to move fast as the wind and stay still like the trees in a forest to become one with nature.¡± I felt like scratching my cheek as Matilda crossed her arms and then started her speech. That was probably something that she said a bunch of times, but she still looked passionate about it. ¡°Go to that room over there and then grab one set of the gear that you find there. You have five minutes.¡± I turned around and then I found another door there and went without asking anything. I had to be patient and learn as much as possible, so I couldn¡¯t sigh or roll my eyes whenever I felt annoyed at people around me. Inside the room that seemed like a warehouse, I found a bunch of sets of gear. While different from Matilda¡¯s, everything there was in the same style, but much simpler. A hunting knife, the bow, and wooden arrows. The leather clothes, the hood, gloves and boots. There were two versions for men and women, so I picked the male version without hesitation and in a hurry, since I wasn¡¯t sure I could wear all that in five minutes. For some odd reason, there was a mirror there and I could see my new appearance. I wasn''t sure it fit me with my dark hair and blue eyes. For some reason, I felt a bit annoyed while looking at my face, even though there was nothing wrong with it, it didn''t seem ugly either. ¡°You are late. Every second wasted is an arrow not shot that could save your life. You need to engrave that to your small brain if you want to have any chance of surviving in this world. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Master.¡± ¡°What was that pause for? Anyway, go over there and pull the fifth rope on the wall.¡± On the side of the door that Matilda came from, there were five ropes connected to the other side of the wall. I headed there and then did exactly what she told me. Before long, I heard the sound of contraptions around the guild, and soon some targets began to appear at the end of the shooting stand. They were all straw dolls in the shape of humans with targets on some parts of their bodies. Some of them had on their heads, others on their heart, others on their legs, or arms. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, they moved up and down from one side to the other. Sometimes, they would move in a straight line and speed up all of a sudden. Their movements were unpredictable, but since it was some sort of mechanism, there must be a pattern set there. Despite that, Matilda fired her arrows and hit her targets¡­ all of them, all of her twenty-one arrows were shot, and all the twenty-one targets were hit as well. ¡°If you want to take my place, you need to do at least this much, rookie.¡± ¡°Why would I want that?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°... Why would I want that, master?¡± ¡°At least you can think fast¡­ unless you want to spend your days fighting for others and risking your neck against hordes of crazy bastards, you would need a stable job. The head of the hunter¡¯s guild can earn money by teaching others skills of classes that are related to it. The first week is for free, and you will learn the basics, but everything else you need to pay to learn.¡± ¡°How can I earn money, master?¡± ¡°That stupid woman still doesn¡¯t tell the rookies enough, huh? You should at least know about the crystal, am I right? What class did you pick, and what were your options?¡± ¡°Archer¡­ the options were: Archer, Thief, Fighter, Alchemist, Spearman, Bard, Squire, Priest, Warrior, and Mage.¡± ¡°Hm. Not bad. Perhaps you won¡¯t die too soon¡­ Regardless, by killing monsters and other enemies, you earn rewards like experience and money. The crystal will calculate that every time you approach it. You can earn more if you accomplish other things like causing a lot of damage to the enemy¡¯s bases or capturing them. So, make sure to return here often to receive your rewards and get stronger.¡± I wanted to ask how exactly the crystal can produce money, but I assumed that Matilda didn¡¯t know that either since she didn¡¯t mention it. It must be something that makes sense here. Still, I felt that money wasn¡¯t made like where I came from. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°I will teach one basic skill for archery and another for using a one handed weapon. After that, you are supposed to learn how to use them effectively. You should try your hardest to learn them, all in order to survive and bring me more money to learn skills. Try to copy me and hit the targets.¡± Matilda went to the side and then pulled the first rope. The first target emerged from a random spot below the stand and then stood still there. I was pretty certain that I didn¡¯t have all the time in the world, so I tried to be fast, but not nock and shoot the arrow in a hurry. At the last moment, I recalled the position of the shoulders and the legs that Matilda showed me and then I copied them before pulling the string and firing the arrow¡­ the target was thirty meters away, but the arrow passed above it. Three seconds later, the straw doll vanished, and another emerged. ¡°You have the arm strength to use the full pull of the bow. Try to adjust your aim considering your previous shot. Visualize the trajectory of the arrow and unleash it. Don¡¯t think that you will miss even for a moment. If you do that, then you will miss it.¡± For a moment, I regretted choosing this class¡­ Swinging a melee weapon would be easier, I was sure of it. I was going to eventually learn how to use one eventually, but the knife wasn¡¯t very impressive. Regardless, I put those thoughts aside and then followed the instructions before unleashing the arrow. It flew five centimeters above the straw doll. ¡°Considering your posture and back muscles, it seems that you have some experience with bows. The fact that you are missing by such a small margin confirms that¡­ you just need to get used to your current bow.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°Is that so, master?¡± ¡°Of course, my eyeballs aren¡¯t just decorations. I wouldn¡¯t be the head huntress of the guild if my eyes weren¡¯t the best eyes of this area.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure of that, but they sure were pretty. Emerald green eyes weren¡¯t that easy to see. Regardless, there was no point in telling that since Matilda will probably think that I was just trying to offer some lip-service. I fired the third arrow and then hit the torso of the straw doll¡­ but the target was on the right leg. Well, I hit the target, and that was what mattered. Considering how deep it pierced, any target hit by that didn¡¯t have armor would probably suffer a lot of damage and, at the very least, it would get slower. I kept practicing the shots and I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the bow felt really comfortable in my hands. The aim was steady, and I was at least hitting the straw dolls around eighty percent of the time. Still, I couldn¡¯t get carried away since I rarely hit the target and each one of the dolls stayed still for ten seconds. Eventually, I was out of arrows. ¡°Go and recover the arrows.¡± I nodded and did exactly that, as I worked like that. I wondered how many of those people would come here. I wanted to have a good idea of how common it was for a person to choose or be compatible with archery. After thinking about it, there was no real reason to learn that¡­ aside from how many rivals I would have. ¡°Master, can I ask you a few things?¡± ¡°Only if you keep firing the arrows and showing progress. Actually, let¡¯s do something better instead. I will answer your questions when you hit the target. In the bull¡¯s eye, one question was answered.¡± That was a bit harsh¡­ hitting the bull¡¯s eye with my current level of skill was asking for too much. Still, I already knew the location of the targets and I also had experience in how to consider the shots while considering everything around me. In the end, I nodded at her words. However, on the second round of arrows, I didn¡¯t hit the bull¡¯s eyes even once. At the end of the third round, I finally managed to pull it off. ¡°All right then, ask it before you go to grab the arrows.¡± ¡°How many guilds are here?¡± ¡°In this town, there are six guilds. The warrior¡¯s guild, the hunter¡¯s guild, the priest¡¯s guild, the mage¡¯s guild, the crafters¡¯ guild, and the special guild. You can tell what each one of them can teach, right?¡± ¡°More or less, aside from the special guild.¡± ¡°Hit another bull¡¯s eye to hear the answer that you want. It looks like a few archers will come this time around as well, so we have time.¡± Matilda looked like that, proud and high-handed, but she sounded more like a proper teacher the more we talked. At the same time, considering her words, it also sounded like she wanted more people to teach, which didn¡¯t make much sense considering her usual choice of words. Regardless, in the fourth round, I hit the bull¡¯s eyes two times. ¡°The special guild teaches miscellaneous skills, survival skills, like techniques for living off the land, building shelter, finding food, creating fire, or navigating wild terrain. These are essential for those exploring dangerous environments or embarking on long journeys. They also teach animal handling, like training, taming, or riding animals. It also included communication with certain types of creatures or understanding their behavior to form bonds or exploit specific traits. They also teach cartography and mapping things and other things that you don¡¯t need for combat, but it can help in your daily life. If you are skilled enough, you can be hired to work for the people in the town. Then your days of risking your neck will be pretty much over.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous? If this place is truly dangerous, isn¡¯t it better to keep getting stronger?¡± ¡°The crystal also rewards those who work for human society outside of battle. They can also get stronger like that. Even if they aren¡¯t specialized in combat, they can become strong enough to run for their lives if they have to.¡± ¡°I see¡­ That redhead told us that we didn¡¯t have to worry too much about picking a class. Why did she say that?¡± ¡°Hit another bull¡¯s eye. I already answered two questions.¡± I clicked my tongue in annoyance¡­ she liked to talk, but not enough to get carried away in my pace. Regardless, I changed my mood to focus on the training and then soon broke my record and hit the bull¡¯s eye three times. ¡°If you pay enough, you can learn skills from other guilds, but you need to build some level of trust with the people and the leaders of the guilds. That is why that stupid moron said that. Also, you have to pay two times more than if you were a real member of the guild. At the same time, you can see in your status that you can choose four primary classes, right? You can obtain the classes of those guilds and learn them with more ease, but you can¡¯t join them per se.¡± ¡°How does that system work?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°How does that system work, master?¡± ¡°Go grab your arrows and I will explain it as you do it. Remember¡­¡± ¡°Every second wasted is an arrow not shot that could save your life. You need to engrave that to your small brain if you want to have any chance of surviving in this world. Do you understand?¡± ¡°The real important part is just the first sentence. Are you picking a fight with me?¡± ¡°I am sorry, master.¡± I actually was just trying to relieve some of the stress that she caused thanks to her odd behavior. Still, naturally, she wasn¡¯t stupid enough to fall for that. In any case, she explained that primary classes could reach up to level twenty-five and the higher the level of those classes, the higher would be my own. I asked for more details, but she told me to level up after hunting some monsters and then I would understand things better. What she could say was that once a primary class reached level 25, I could obtain a new one by using the crystal. The same process would repeat until I had four of them. ¡°Once you obtain four of those, you will be able to obtain secondary classes. Choose them well because your basic classes will determine your future. Your actions will also determine them, since the options that the crystal will offer might change.¡± ¡°Why can the crystal do that kind of thing?¡± ¡°Because it does. Do you want to ask why it rains and snows as well?¡± That was another type of question, but it looked like from her perspective, it was essentially the same thing. It seemed that not even people of the land knew that much about the crystal. It just existed like everything in nature. Still, at least Matilda told me that people like me would come once every month¡­ but throughout the day, no one showed up aside from me to join the hunter¡¯s guild. It was a good thing that Matilda could focus on making me stronger, but I felt that this could bring trouble in the future. I just didn¡¯t know how yet. Chapter 03 - True Skill I spent the entire day and a good part of the night firing arrows. My arms were hurting quite a bit thanks to that. My back too, since I slept in the warehouse of the guild and my bed, was a pile of straw. At least I had food and water given to me and couldn¡¯t complain. While I was resting, I soon realized the problem of being the only member in this guild here¡­ without the others to interact, I couldn¡¯t make allies and then try to hunt the monsters together. The other people of the other guilds could plan that much ahead, while I would remain in the dark. Asking to join them made me feel awkward just by thinking about it. I also felt that I didn¡¯t need that much, but it was just my own bias. I also felt that it would be more annoying than anything to rely on others and try to make my plans while considering them as well. Little by little, I was learning more and more who I was thanks to those thoughts and with that in mind; I fell asleep. ¡°You have made good progress for a day, hitting the bull¡¯s eyes one if four shots is acceptable.¡± ¡°Yes, master.¡± ¡°Today your goal is to use your stamina as an energy source and power up one of your arrows and learn your first technique: the Power Shot.¡± The same sounded simple and pretty familiar. Thanks to that, I had an idea of what the technique could do. Matilda grabbed an arrow in one fluid motion while her arm was relaxed, but soon it got a bit tense as she pulled the string of her bow. I could tell that the surrounding air changed as well¡­ it felt like she was about to break her bow, but then she unleashed her arrow. For a moment, I heard the sound being pushed away from it and then the impact of something being destroyed in the distance. I was only able to see pieces of the straw doll falling around. The bull¡¯s eye had been completely decimated as well. ¡°That is the Power Shot. You control your vital energy, also known as stamina, to make an arrow reach new levels of power. Naturally, the technique can become much stronger as you use it. If I were to use mine seriously, I would have destroyed that wall.¡± ¡°For real?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°... Very impressive, master?¡± ¡°Anyone with enough training can do this much. Now, go fix the straw doll and put it in the right place.¡± I wanted to ask why I had to do that when she was the one who destroyed it, but it would be a waste of time. While I was fixing the target, I wondered how I could copy Matilda¡­ she didn¡¯t give more details, so I couldn¡¯t imagine that it was something as simple as just pulling the string as much as possible. That would increase the range and piercing power, but it wouldn¡¯t be the same thing, right? ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it. Just experiment with it and learn with your body.¡± That was what she said when I returned to the shooting spot¡­ that didn¡¯t seem that much helpful, but I decided to follow the instructions. Perhaps she was right. Archer was my first class, so I should have some compatibility toward it and its skills as well. I did the usual and nocked an arrow before aiming at a target, and then tried my pull on the bowstring. It was surprisingly heavy considering that it was a simple bow¡­ I insisted and soon felt my aim becoming less steady and before long, my stamina began to be drained. ¡°That is it. Now hit the target.¡± Without thinking too much about it, I fired the arrow, and the arrow flew¡­ way far away from the target. It almost hit the wall on the side of the stand. Even if it could increase my power, it was useless if it dropped my aim that much. ¡°Once you hit the target under these conditions, you will learn the skill. You should do that as soon as possible, because this is the easiest part of your training.¡± ¡°Are the conditions this simple, master? Why?¡± ¡°It is a crystal thing, so don¡¯t worry too much about it.¡± I looked to the side and noticed that Matilda also had a crystal bracelet with her. It made me wonder what kind of nonsense the crystal is for it to work like that and the people not finding it weird at all. Regardless, considering what I heard, the crystal had a lot of magical effects¡­ one of those effects is probably to turn some specific actions into magic or techniques. As long as we could do something similar, the crystal would allow us to learn the technique and improve it. Was that an overly simple explanation¡­ Now that I thought about it, wouldn¡¯t it make sense for the crystal to be the cause of me being here and without my memories as well? This felt really fishy. It was starting to feel like the crystal was some sort of entity or was being controlled by one that felt useful to us being here. Those were my thoughts. They made sense in my head for some reason. In any case, I resumed my training and kept trying to use Power Shot. I wanted to ask these kinds of questions to Matilda, but the people here would have nothing to gain by knowing that or answering the questions. Since I wasn¡¯t making any progress with the shots, I decided to stop thinking about that and focus on the training. Thanks to that, things improved considerably. Given that my instincts were helping me this much, I decided to always listen to it¡­ thanks to that, by noon, I finally hit the first target. Instead of destroying it, the technique pierced through the straw doll.
The Technique Power Shot has been mastered.
Power Shot: A simple technique, by enhancing the bow and the arrow with your vital energy, you can make your shots more powerful. It increases the power of your projectiles by ten percent for each second of charge. The time of the charge can be up to the level of the skill. Dexterity and Strength also affects the damage of the skill. Cost: 05 stamina per second.
Sean Primary Classes: Archer Lv 01 Health: 80/80 Mana: 100/100 Stamina: 45/100 This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Strength: 09 Dexterity: 10 Magic: 06 Vitality: 08 Spirit: 10 Endurance: 10 Luck: 05 Free Points: 00 Techniques: Power Shot Lv 01 Spells: Effects: I confirmed that the technique appeared on my status screen and at the same time, the knowledge of how it worked became clear in my mind. That happened at the same time I was able to see the skill of the explanation of the technique. It was really weird, but at least it confirmed my guess¡­ the crystal indeed helped people learn skills faster for whatever reason, at least once some conditions were confirmed. ¡°Congratulations¡­ you managed to pull it off a lot faster than I had expected.¡± Matilda¡¯s words made me feel like I had accomplished a lot, but her expression didn¡¯t do the same. She was studying me instead. It made me wonder if she was considering me a threat somehow. That didn¡¯t make any sense considering how she acted in front of me until now, but it would make sense considering the redhead and the pirate captain. We were here to help, but it was hard to say when we would be welcome as true allies instead of possible threats. ¡°Now, listen. Techniques, spells and effects can be improved in many ways. The main way is to use them as much as possible during fights. Training them can have some effect, but it is very small. Is at least ten times slower if compared to real fighting.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Anyway, continue using the skill for a while. Even if it won¡¯t improve, you need to get used to using it. We might as well consider your hit a complete fluke here.¡± Although Matilda said that, I hit the targets half of the time with Power Shot, but she had a point. It was harder to control that way. For the rest of the day, she didn¡¯t do anything and just watched me using Power Shot. Stamina recovered fast, around one point per second, so I could use the skill faster than I could spend my energy. The next day, after breakfast, Matilda jumped over on the other side of the shooting stand and then yawned before she grabbed her curved knife. It looks like it was time to train with the knives. Still, rather than worrying about stabbing her while she was sleepy, I was more worried if she wouldn¡¯t be focused enough not to stab me. ¡°Once you reach my level, you don¡¯t have to worry about letting the enemy get too close where you will be forced to use this, but we can¡¯t expect you to be as skilled as me, right? So, grab your knife and get ready. I will teach you the basics on how to use a knife or a short sword. I grabbed my knife from my waist and then looked at it. It looked a bit better than a kitchen knife, but I was fairly certain that I never held it to fight another person. At least that was what my tension told me. ¡°All right, let¡¯s start with the basics: your stance. The first is the Forward Guard., a stance that prioritizes offense and control. By positioning the lead foot forward, the fighter can quickly close the distance between themselves and the opponent. The weapon is extended slightly in front, ready to strike or parry any incoming attacks. This stance encourages forward momentum, making it ideal for pressuring the opponent and forcing them to react. However, it requires the fighter to be mindful of their balance, as committing too much weight forward can leave them vulnerable to counters.¡± ¡°Wait, wait¡­ aren¡¯t you giving too much information? And why such an offensive stance? Isn¡¯t it better to first learn a defensive stance or something?¡± ¡°Do you think that is a good idea?¡± I stopped to think for a moment¡­ it seemed that Matilda wanted to make me find an answer by myself. I held my chin while considering possible explanations. The first that came to mind seemed obvious and agreed with certain types of people. Archers are supposed to be damage dealers, so it would make sense that is the case. ¡°It isn¡¯t a good idea to assume a defensive stance against a target that managed to avoid my arrows, master?¡± ¡°That is right. You don¡¯t want to let a fight drag out. Most enemies and beasts would think that an archer at close range would be hopeless, so it is a good idea to surprise them with a sudden attack like this.¡± Matilda stepped forward in the blink of an eye, crossing a distance of ten meters and then putting her knife against my throat. I gulped after a shiver ran down my spine. I didn¡¯t see her moving at all¡­ it felt like she took advantage of the moment I blinked to approach. While I was thinking about that, I saw that Matilda had a bunch of throwing knives under her cloak. ¡°I see¡­ that was impressive, master. By the way, do archers learn how to throw knives, too?¡± ¡°They can, but it is more of a thief''s skill than anything.¡± ¡°You teach thief skills as well?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you?¡± ¡°No, but it suits you.¡± ¡°Are you trying to pick a fight?¡± In any case, it didn¡¯t seem like she got any thief students either¡­ it made sense since most people would hesitate in getting that class. One of the primary reasons people avoid the thief class is the negative social stigma associated with it. Thieves are often seen as criminals, and adopting such a class may result in the person being ostracized by other factions within the society. This can limit the person¡¯s access to certain resources, allies, and opportunities, creating a sense of isolation or constant danger. At the same time, the thief class typically doesn¡¯t offer the raw physical strength or magical prowess that classes like warrior or mage provide. Instead, thieves often rely on stealth, cunning, and agility, which can be challenging to master and less satisfying in direct confrontations. People who prefer to be at the forefront of battles, dealing damage head-on or wielding powerful spells, may find the thief¡¯s reliance on sneak attacks, traps, and subterfuge boring or less impressive. ¡°Anyway, assume that stance and then try to block my attacks. I will use the other side of the knife, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± I nodded and copied Matilda¡¯s stance. Without any warning, she charged forward once more and then attacked me faster than the wind, but it looked like in the last moment, she slowed down considerably to give me time to react to her attacks. Although Matilda had thin arms, her attacks were weirdly heavy. Blowing away my guard was as easy as breathing for her or making me break my posture or force me to step backward. I didn¡¯t hurt myself using the bow aside from the tip of my fingers, but Matilda made sure to hit my forearms a few times with the handle of her knife whenever I messed up too much. The next day, she taught me the low guard stance. The Low Guard stance is one where the fighter lowers their body to maintain a low center of gravity. With weight evenly distributed and knees bent, the fighter remains stable and ready to absorb any incoming attacks. The weapon is held at waist or hip level, ready to deflect strikes or counters when an opening arises. This stance is highly effective for defending against powerful strikes while keeping the fighter¡¯s movements close to their body for swift retaliation. In the next few days, she also taught me the side guard and the neutral stance, but I felt more comfortable with the reverse grip. The Reverse Grip is a specialized stance best suited for close-quarters combat, where the fight has moved into grappling range or when immediate retaliation is required. With the weapon held in a reverse grip, the person is positioned to strike rapidly in tight spaces. The dominant foot is still forward, but the fighter¡¯s body is lower to the ground to aid in stability and quick reactions. This stance is good for swift, close-range slashes or thrusts, especially in situations where an opponent¡¯s weapon is close to the user¡¯s body. It¡¯s a less conventional grip, making it harder for opponents to anticipate and counter. The main challenge of the Reverse Grip is that it can leave the fighter vulnerable at longer ranges, so it¡¯s best used when the fight is already in proximity. After blocking a few of her strikes and finally trying to land some hits as well that Matilda easily deflected, she studied me for a bit. ¡°Hm. It seems that you aren¡¯t half bad with the reverse grip stance. If you survive for long enough, then come here and pay me to teach you how to dual wield. That might make you a bit better at close combat.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, master.¡± ¡°We only have half a day left, so there isn¡¯t much that I can still teach you, and I want to give you more time to complete the first stage of the bow training. So, I guess the only option left is to teach you Takedown. Try to attack me.¡± I nodded. I wanted to ask first before doing anything what the skill could do, but sometimes it is better to learn by doing. With that in mind, I charged and then tried a side slash with the reverse grip and Matilda blocked the attack with ease, deflecting my weapon to the side. Her dagger also moved to the side, but soon she stopped and then tried to slash my wrist. I felt a shiver run down my spine, but she stopped at the last moment. ¡°This is Takedown, pretty good to disarm opponents that use weapons. You can try to learn this at a later time. For now, you should try to complete your night training while you can.¡± Chapter 04 - Perfectly Prepared? I thought that I was being pretty silent, but as expected, of a hunter who was also a thief. Matilda had realized that I used the standing to practice my bow skills at night as well. It wasn¡¯t easy, but I could hit the targets with enough focus. Still, I was on the first of the five levels of the archery stand. I wanted to at least complete the first one before anything. In any case, while I wanted to learn Takedown, if Matilda said that, it was for a good reason. Right now, my accuracy in the first level of the stand was eighty percent. It made me wonder if I could pull that off before the next day arrives and I am forced to leave. I soon shook my head, since doubt would always make me miss my targets. ¡ª ¡ª While Sean was working on his archery skills, Matilda left the guild to check the other guilds. Using her skills, she vanished in the shadows of the buildings even while it was afternoon and no one saw her walking around. Her first destination was the warrior¡¯s guild and as expected, the place was as noisy as ever¡­ the sound of people shouting, the sound of shields and swords colliding never stopped even for a moment. ¡®There are thirty of them¡­ more than usual. That would mean that if things get balanced, each party would have at least two tanks.¡¯ While she was thinking about that, Matilda hid in the corner of the room and blended with the surroundings so well that not even the people that passed half a meter away from her were able to see her. Matilda kept watching that for a while until a new group arrived at the guild. Around ten priests came to train their skills and heal the wounds of the warriors. With that number, not all parties will have a healer. At the same time, it didn¡¯t look like this was the first time they had come here and they talked with the warriors for a while after healing them. ¡®They are already forming their own parties¡­ It looks like Sean will have to prove himself for a while before joining them. Still, even if he does that, I have a feeling that he is too prideful to ask to join any party.¡¯ An archer fighting solo wasn¡¯t something unheard of, but a newbie wouldn¡¯t have learned the right survival skills to pull that off. In the end, Matilda left the guild while hoping that Sean could find and get along well with the leftovers, the worse students that didn¡¯t show much promise or skill when they were learning their skills. Matilda was surprised to see twenty-five people in the mages¡¯ guild, but soon she found out that most of them were so so with their magic skills. As for the crafters guild, she found out that twenty of them were there learning to use simple materials to make stuff and repair others. As for the special guild, only five of them were there. That leaves nine people left¡­ ¡®A lot of stupid people this round, huh? They must have died already outside¡­ Ah, that is right. Maybe some veteran parties will return here eventually and recruit him. Someone with good eyesight would be able to tell his skill, but only another hunter would be able to tell that and two hunters would never get along together. Not like there is any other left alive.¡¯ Matilda couldn¡¯t shake the unease settling in her chest. She had seen countless students come and go, some brimming with talent, others barely scraping by. Yet this time, she only had one student under her guidance, and the thought of him dying alone in some forgotten corner of this place weighed heavily on her. His potential was undeniable, far beyond the average hopefuls who passed through the guild¡¯s doors, but potential alone wasn¡¯t enough to survive. She had done all she could to prepare him, and pushed him to refine his skills. However, she knew better than anyone that once he stepped outside, his fate would be his own. No amount of training or encouragement could protect him from the harsh reality that awaited. In the end, there was nothing more she could do except return to the guild and hope. If he managed to complete the first level, the rewards would give him a hand. The first hurdle was always the hardest, but if he cleared it, his chances of survival would improve considerably. She let out a quiet sigh. All she could do now was wait and see if he had the strength and luck to make it through. ¡ª ¡ª
The Effect Archery has been mastered.
Archery: A simple effect focused on ranged attacks using bows and crossbows. It determines your accuracy and range with these weapons, and the techniques related to it over time. Each level increases your perfect range by one meter.
¡®This is quite weird¡­ this kind of skill shouldn¡¯t be granted early on?¡¯ Sean Primary Classes: Archer Lv 01 Health: 80/80 Mana: 100/100 Stamina: 45/100 Strength: 09 Dexterity: 10 Magic: 06 Vitality: 08 Spirit: 10 Endurance: 10 Luck: 05 Free Points: 00 Techniques: Power Shot Lv 01 Spells: Effects: Archery Lv 01 I confirmed that the skill was there, so completing the first level actually had a real benefit. When I looked around, Matilda was nowhere to be seen, but it was already dark as well, so it was no surprise. ¡®I guess this is it¡­ I did what I could and learned what I could. Still, this is just the beginning.¡¯ My goal was to become stronger and knowledgeable as possible in order not to have to rely on others or be forced to obey them, but then seeing Matilda¡¯s skills made me realize that the people here were far ahead of me, in more ways than one. I couldn¡¯t just obtain a bit of power and then completely ignore them. They still had more power and knowledge compared to me. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡®The more I think about it, the more I realize that I have this rebellious tendency of not wanting to bow to anyone¡­ I just hope that this won¡¯t reach some worrisome levels.¡¯ I had a feeling that my memories would be the main factor in determining my actions and behavior, but even without those, I should be able to reflect on my experiences a bit. I would assume that I had a bit of trouble with authority based on that. Was I a criminal before? I didn¡¯t want to believe that¡­ Still, worrying about my past that I didn¡¯t know of would only make me waste time and energy with useless thoughts. ¡°Hm. It seems that you managed to pull it off. My time teaching you wasn¡¯t wasted then. Make sure to come back and pay me properly by learning other skills.¡± Matilda emerged from the darkness while bringing a bowl of soup. I never heard her steps until she spoke and it felt like the smell of the food only began to spread around the same time as well, it was quite weird. ¡°Thank you, master.¡± ¡°You should be. Anyway, here is a small gift. The guild masters usually give something extra for the students that shows more promise than the others. Since you didn¡¯t have any real competition, you don¡¯t deserve some impressive rewards, but this should come in handy.¡± Matilda tossed at me something that looked like a gem. I frowned since I couldn¡¯t tell what it was supposed to be for. Still, it felt like it was being drawn to my bow for some reason, so when I made them touch each other, it felt like they were magnetized. ¡°You can find gems in this world with all kinds of effects. This gem will grant you a boost of twenty percent movement speed for a second after you kill an enemy. The time can be increased the more you kill enemies and keep that equipped. For more information, check the crystal tomorrow.¡± ¡°I see. Thanks, master. I am grateful.¡± ¡°You should be. Regardless, what are your plans from tomorrow onwards?¡± ¡°I am not sure. Do you have any recommendations?¡± ¡°Your skill with the bow is acceptable for someone who practiced under me for a week, but your skill with the knife is below average. The best option is for you to look for a party. They should be forming right now naturally, but you are at a disadvantage since you were unable to meet others like you. So, look for those who don¡¯t look promising and then try to raise them as proper allies.¡± That seemed like a lot of work, but I could understand where she was coming from. People like that would also be more loyal if they feel indebted to me. It was a pretty calculating way of seeing things, but I didn¡¯t find that odd. ¡°Another option would be to take your chances and try to hunt alone. Still, it is pretty rare to find enemies in groups smaller than three, so you will have to fight at a numerical disadvantage.¡± That seemed like even more troublesome since my life would be on the line. Still, I felt that I would be fine as long as I was careful enough. The main reason for that was the fact that I would have to waste a good part of the day tomorrow looking for possible teammates, that seemed like a hassle and I wanted to get a good understanding of the surroundings as soon as possible and about my future in this place. ¡°I guess I will try my hand at working by myself. The start will be hard, but things will become easier once I learn something like a simple basic spell. How much does it cost, by the way?¡± ¡°Fifty silver coins.¡± ¡°For real? Isn¡¯t it like straight out a crime to ask that much?¡± ¡°Asking for less would be the same as putting less value in the life and work of priests. In this world, knowledge is power, and the knowledge to save lives is deeply connected to the power of healing wounds.¡± ¡°What about the skills that I can learn from you, master?¡± ¡°The most simple one will cost ten silver coins.¡± ¡°Is there a discount for your best student of this round?¡± ¡°No.¡± At least I tried. In any case, tomorrow was an important day, and I had to start earlier because this was the last time I would have free food and a space to sleep without having to pay for it. I got used to training, but now I had to get used to the new life of hunting and fighting for my life to be able to pay for living expenses. ¡®Without memories of the past, few people would feel inclined to refuse this kind of life vehemently¡­ This pretty much confirms that our lack of memories is by design, but how can anyone erase the memories of one hundred people that easily?¡¯ ¡°Once you are done, leave the bowl in the warehouse and then sleep properly. I probably won¡¯t be here tomorrow morning, so don¡¯t mind waiting for me to say bye or anything.¡± ¡°All right. Thanks, master.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± I could only see Matilda now as someone who was extremely awkward when it comes to human relations. Still, it was quite odd, since it was also clear that she wanted more students to teach. Living as a hunter¡¯s guild master shouldn¡¯t be that profitable, so I wondered if she was working out of duty instead. With those thoughts in mind, I went to sleep. Usually, I would feel a bit anxious if I didn¡¯t practice some extra shots at night, but this time around, I fell asleep pretty fast. At sunrise, I was already up and ready to leave. The guild was empty and silent, but I wondered if Matilda was just pretending to not be around. That seemed like something she would do. Regardless, I decided to leave and then check the outside of the fortress. Aside from the small area east of the fortress that led to the beach and the bridge, everything was pretty much unknown to me. ¡®It doesn¡¯t look like any of the others are awake, so I should get this chance to get ahead a bit. I need to do the work of more than one person, so things will be difficult if I don¡¯t work harder.¡¯ I walked around the town to get a good feel of the gates and then checked the buildings around those. Thanks to that, I was able to see what kind of shops and buildings opened early in the morning. All the four gates were manned, but they weren¡¯t open yet. At the same time, it seemed that the surrounding area was all the same, full of trees and obstacles. It seemed like a good place for me to fight, but it would be troublesome if I didn¡¯t find anything to fight soon. ¡®Matilda said that the areas close to the fortresses are restored pretty much every month since some of the newcomers die and the others just move to other areas once they get strong enough. I guess I don¡¯t have to worry about this that much.¡¯ In the end, I decided to cross the south gate since I would be able to tell that on my left side I would find the sea and from the back, there was the direction of the fortress. That left only two directions to be attacked from. I didn¡¯t realize this before, but the areas around sure had tall grass. The other areas had a decent path since people used them often. That meant that the fortress didn¡¯t interact with the other bases all that much. There were so many things that I realized that I should have asked Matilda, but I was too focused on the training. Regardless¡­ I will have to learn as I go. Though the sun had barely risen, the air was already warming, wrapping around me. Whether it was the rising temperature or just my own tension, I couldn¡¯t tell. Every step I took through the forest felt heavier, my senses stretched thin as I tried to remain alert. The bow in my hand gave me a sense of control, yet the nocked arrow only emphasized my unease. I was prepared to shoot at the slightest movement. Shadows shifted between the trees, and I had to remind myself to breathe steadily, to keep my grip firm but not rigid. Moving cautiously, I walked through the trees, making my way from one part of the forest to the other. Every thirty seconds, I forced myself to stop, scanning my surroundings with sharp eyes, ensuring I was alone before continuing forward. It felt like a necessary precaution, yet it also drained me. The constant awareness, the tension coiled in my muscles, and the relentless worry of unseen dangers. At this rate, my nerves alone would exhaust me before noon. ¡®This will be a problem. I need to find the right balance between being too tense and too relaxed.¡¯ I could tell that this kind of thing would only come with experience, so I took a deep breath and then tried to calm down a bit. I tried to focus on the surroundings¡­ my eyes were part of my set of weapons, but they weren¡¯t the only things I could rely on. The sound of the wind coming from my left side reached my ears and then the sea breeze as well. In the distance, I could hear the sound of birds chirping. Usually, that could be a good sign that the area was peaceful, but there could be other traps and this atmosphere was just the right tool to use to make a person drop their guard. I took another deep breath and then relaxed my body a bit, but remained with my eyes focused on the surroundings. Thanks to that, I was able to advance further south without feeling too much pressure, until everything came back to me when I saw a web in the distance suddenly emerging and then a rabbit appeared inside of it. Chapter 05 - Those Who Ran Away I lowered my posture and then advanced through the tall grass while trying not to make much noise in the area. I figured out that if some enemy set those traps for humans, they should come eventually to check their traps and when that happens, I could attack them. I was pretty certain that the best moment to attack the prey is when they are about to attack another prey as well. ¡®I want to change my position in order for the wind not to spread my smell, but I guess I should be fine. Maybe rolling on the ground and covering my body with leaves and plants can do something about that.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what kind of enemies I would find ahead, I didn¡¯t know if they had a good sense of smell, so perhaps I was worrying too much, but I still decided to cut some of the grass around to cover some parts of my clothes while I remained hidden. I didn¡¯t move an inch while I watched the rabbit trying to free itself from the trap. For a while, I wondered if I would have to remain here for long, but at least I didn¡¯t move that much while my patience was being tested. I was only worried if the others would come here and approach and ruin my reverse trap. Fortunately, I only had to wait for half an hour before I noticed the atmosphere changing. The sound of birds chirping stopped and I could see them flying away in the sky as well. Eventually, I was able to hear some snarling sounds and then words. ¡°Set traps again. Enemies coming, soon.¡± The words came a bit off¡­ for a moment. I wondered if I didn¡¯t hear all of them, but soon I understood why that was the case. When the net began to be lowered, I slowly raised my head and then I saw three small green humans there. Two of them were grabbing the rabbit and lowering the net while another was looking around. They were short and had pointy ears with bead eyes as well. Their weapons were short wooden spears and while they looked skinny and weak, I could sense some savagery in them. ¡®Goblins?¡¯ For a moment, I didn¡¯t think too much about that¡­ but why did I know that word? Something was off, but I didn¡¯t have time to worry about that. I silently nocked an arrow and raised my bow when the enemy looked to the side instead of my direction. They were thirty meters away from me, the best of my range, at least it was the case in the guild, so I should be fine hitting them. However, at this distance, they could also reach me in no time, so I couldn¡¯t miss my shots. To make sure that I wouldn¡¯t miss, I aimed at the torso of the one checking the surroundings and used Power Shot as well. When I felt confident in my aim, I fired the arrow. The creature fell on its butt in confusion as the arrow pierced its belly and then soon began to grunt before shouting in pain. ¡°Grrraaagh!¡± I heard it well¡­ the sound of flesh being pierced and damaged beyond repair. A lot of blood gushed from the wound as the monster shook violently on the ground. The surprising feeling made me flinch for a moment, but that had been a mistake. Fortunately, the other goblins were caught off guard as well. They looked at their ally in surprise before they looked in my direction. I was already standing and ready to fire another arrow before they could think of charging at me. ¡°I¡¯ll tear yer throat out, ya filthy human!¡± The one who shouted got hit in the stomach as well when I unleashed another Power Shot. The final one had the chance to charge at me and it was pretty fast, despite being short. Thanks to that, I only had the chance to fire one more arrow. I aimed and didn¡¯t release it¡­ only when the monster jumped and prepared to throw the spear was when my arrow was released since it was only five meters away and I could tell its movements in the air with precision. The third flew and then pierced the forehead of the monster, and the creature never had the chance to throw the spear. Its body fell and rolled a few times before stopping in front of me. I took a deep breath and then realized that I could have used the power of the gem to gain some distance, but that hadn¡¯t been necessary, anyway. I stared at the dead monster and for a moment, I felt something like a cold hand in my chest, but soon the feeling vanished and then I decided to recover my arrows and check the bodies of the monsters. Aside from a dirty piece of cloth that covered their parts at their waist, they only had a single dirty bag that was filled with fruits and other two rabbits inside. ¡®I can use these as provisions in case of an emergency, but I should really wash them up¡­ this bag can be useful too if I wash it a lot.¡¯ I checked the surroundings one more time, and I wondered what I should do with the bodies¡­ it was better to hide them somewhere where their allies couldn¡¯t find them and raise their guards. Still, I couldn¡¯t waste too much time with that, so I put them together and hid them inside a bush. I let out another sigh and then decided to move on. That encounter alone made me learn a few things about the monsters¡­ at least the goblins didn¡¯t have a good sense of smell enough to find me thirty meters away, but that could change if I don¡¯t bathe often. I checked the footprints of the goblins and then confirmed that they indeed came from the south. Matilda said that there were other human fortresses in the area, but it didn¡¯t seem that there were others in the south, so finding people wasn¡¯t possible if I kept going on this path. I decided to still head south despite that. ¡®The smell of blood is strong since the arrows pierced them deeply¡­¡¯ I tried to clean the arrows as much as possible, but that was quite annoying. I looked around and then used some plants and rubbed them against the arrowhead to mask the smell, but it was better if I found some sort of solution to decrease their odor. I shouldn¡¯t be the only person who had to worry about that before, so other hunters or perhaps the people of the special or crafters guild came up with a solution. Using the same arrows wasn¡¯t a good idea, so I kept the clean ones ready to be used as I headed further south. Still, I soon stopped when I saw something odd ahead¡­ There was an area where the grass wasn¡¯t as tall and it looked like a decent path to follow, but the area close to the nearest tree was covered in leaves. I looked around and then tossed a stone on the area that I was heading to a few times, until the stone suddenly sunk on the ground, revealing a half meter hole with spikes at the end and on of the sides. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡®They sure are nasty¡­ It is a trap not to kill, but to destroy the legs of a person. A hole big enough to kill a person would take too long, but this is a lot faster to make.¡¯ The goblins are savage, but they aren¡¯t stupid. It makes sense that is the case since they can even speak and they speak quite well. That makes things a lot more troublesome since smart enemies are obviously harder to deal with than stupid ones that rely only on savagery and instincts. Still, it made me wonder why Matilda didn¡¯t teach me that much. Was it my fault that I hadn¡¯t asked? Or was that one of the rules of the place? Matilda told me that I could buy some lessons to get some skills, but what about knowledge? I didn¡¯t interact with enough people in the fortress to tell that or not, but I had the feeling that a lot of stuff was being hidden from us. We were brought here to help, by force, but we weren¡¯t given enough information, just some basic training to do things. ¡®Maybe that is the stuff above proving our worth and stuff that the redhead said.¡¯ ¡°Hehehe.¡± ¡°Gahahaha.¡± ¡°Hihihi.¡± While I was in deep thought, I felt that I had heard something and immediately lowered my stance and hid behind the closest tree. After checking the surroundings, I checked my eyes for a bit and then focused on my hearing¡­ It didn¡¯t take long for me to hear the sound of grass being smashed and a bit of laughter in the distance. I turned to my left side and assumed that the sound was coming from there¡­ Since I couldn¡¯t see anything, and I could hear it, it was safe to assume that the wind was helping me with my hearing. ¡®Is it coming from the beach?¡¯ That was a bit odd¡­ why would anyone or anything go to the beach? It would be too easy to be exposed and surrounded since there weren¡¯t many options to run away and running on the sand would make people get more tired. Something was clearly off, and I decided to check it since the sound of the laughter seemed to come from the goblins. Still, I took my time since I didn¡¯t want to fall for any traps. Thanks to that, it took a good part of one hour to finally reach the targets and see what had happened¡­ I could see three goblins pulling something from behind toward the south. Their base should be there. When I focused my eyes a bit more¡­ I saw two of them grabbing legs. The legs didn¡¯t have boots or anything on them, and it was a bit early for anyone to have come this far as I had. The legs seemed a bit tanned as well. Thinking about it would change nothing¡­ The targets were busy, and this was a good chance to eliminate them. I decided to head toward the goblins while slowly approaching and heading south as well. Since the wind was in my favor, the small sounds that I made didn¡¯t reveal my position. The sound of them pulling their prisoners also made it difficult for them to hear anything and they were relaxed, too. Once again, I only stopped when I was thirty meters away from them. Thanks to the direction that they were heading and their positions that they didn¡¯t change away from each other, things were a bit more difficult than before. I also could only see them from their side, so the area to hit was smaller. If I wanted to dispose of them, I had to hit their heads. Their arms had muscles and bones that would make the arrows not pierce deep enough, after all. I took a deep breath¡­ it was better to use the skill as much as possible, but my aim was a bit better when I didn¡¯t use Power Shot. Not like I needed, since the arrows could easily pierce their skulls as long as they hit the right spot. Without using Power Shot for a moment, the bow was a lot more steady, and I felt more confident with my aim. I released the arrow, and it flew straight at the ear of the first target and pierced it. The creature didn¡¯t have the chance to react at all and it just fell to the side like a puppet which had its strings cut. The other two goblins frowned and then saw the arrow on the head of their ally, but at this point in time, my second arrow was already in the air and then pierced the throat of the next beast. It was always useful when they stopped moving thanks to the surprise¡­ that was something I had to learn from, to keep moving even when something caught me off guard. When the third beast began to move, it tried to move to a nearby tree to hide. It was pretty smart, but it was too obvious. When the creature reached the tree, an arrow pierced its right leg and then the monster tripped. It tried to get up, but soon it got hit by another arrow, this time on the back that pierced its head. As the last goblin collapsed, its body still twitching for a moment before going completely still, I stepped forward and planted my foot firmly on its chest, pushing down just enough to confirm it was truly dead. The stillness that followed, along with my relieved sigh, confirmed the end of the fight. But as I turned my attention to the prisoners, my relief quickly faded. My gaze fell upon their bodies, and I felt a cold grip tighten around my chest. These weren¡¯t just any captured people. They weren¡¯t alive, their throats marred by multiple deep gashes, their bodies drenched in blood. ¡®Why would they try to drag the bodies of their victims to their base?¡¯ They had no equipment on them, no signs of being affiliated with any guild. It was clear they were not from the fortress, and from the state they were in, I could only guess what had happened. My suspicion was confirmed as I pieced it together: they must have been the ones who refused to join the fortress, the ones who tried to make a desperate escape, setting up a small base near the beach in hopes of finding a way out. I crouched down, inspecting them further, but there was little I could do in their current state. The realization that I had stumbled across another group struggling to survive hit me with a strange mix of frustration and empathy. They hadn¡¯t had a chance. ¡®They shouldn¡¯t have any idea where to go or what to do¡­ but they knew that they didn¡¯t want to be here.¡¯ They didn¡¯t have any possessions and their clothes had been cut here and there for some reason. Leaving their bodies there wasn¡¯t a good idea, but then the possibility of using their bodies to bait more goblins came to mind. ¡®Maybe I am not a very good person¡­¡¯ Using those who had fallen like that, it clearly wasn¡¯t the right thing to do. I decided not to proceed with that plan and just head in the direction the goblins were heading, but thinking like that still showed some signs of how my mind operated. I decided to leave the bodies in a place that could be easily seen. Other groups could find them or cremate them. For now, I was in enemy¡¯s territory and I couldn¡¯t afford to spend several hours digging graves. I didn¡¯t even have the tools for that. I proceeded further south while keeping my guard up. Thanks to that, I managed to ambush two more groups of three goblins just fine, but I was forced to stop my progress when I saw something in the distance¡­ it was like the fortress of the humans, but there was a walled base ahead too. I could see some goblins walking on the walls with bows and keeping their eyes on their surroundings. ¡®It is around two hundred meters long and I can¡¯t tell how wide it is, but it can probably house more than a few hundred of them.¡¯ Still, that wasn¡¯t the most troublesome thing that I could see¡­ on the sides of the gate of the goblin fortresses, I could see some bodies impaled on stakes and I felt that some of them looked familiar¡­ they were probably some of the people that came to this place with me, but they didn¡¯t decide to join the human fortress. ¡®That would explain why they were pulling the bodies¡­ Regardless, I guess I don¡¯t have to show any mercy to them.¡¯ I could tell that the humans were the ones invading their territory, but I didn¡¯t see any of us until now doing something like that to the enemy. It made me wonder if there was any point in thinking about that. Now that one side had done it, the other side didn¡¯t have any reasons aside from the moral ones not to do the same thing. Chapter 06 - Rewards and Suspicion I decided to take some risks and move around the enemy¡¯s base to have a good idea of what was ahead of me. Thanks to that, I was able to see thirty goblin archers and a base that was two hundred meters wide and five hundred meters long. Our fortress was two times bigger than that and I couldn¡¯t help but be astonished by it. ¡®We don¡¯t have much of a numerical advantage. Given this, it makes perfect sense that every month, one hundred prisoners like us have to come here so often.¡¯ Cannon fodder was the only thing that could describe us. We were supposed to decrease the numbers of the enemies and then the real warriors of the fortress would come to finish the job that we started and suffer as few casualties as possible. Matilda¡¯s face came to mind. She looked pretty caring and tried to answer my questions as much as possible, and she wasn¡¯t the lying type. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if all that had been an act. The redhead¡¯s face and her words also came to mind. ¡°We are at war against many types of enemies. Monsters, demons, demi-humans, elves, and so on. This is a world where only the strong can survive, if you prove your worth, we will reward you, but if you can¡¯t even fend for yourself, you will suffer a fate worse than death at the hands of the enemies¡­ that is what she said, was that true or just lies to make us work harder?¡± Objectively speaking, a force of 1200 warriors used every year didn¡¯t seem that impressive, but it was better than nothing and if the people of this place didn¡¯t have to sacrifice their own people to weaken the enemies, I couldn¡¯t imagine them not doing that. While those thoughts kept bothering me, I saw a group of three goblins leaving the fortress¡­ I let out a sigh and then decided to ambush them. Nothing good would come if I keep worrying about things endlessly. For now, the best thing that I could do was to fight and get stronger. Once we were further away from the fortress, I readied myself to kill them, but soon I changed my mind and kept following them. The paths that they followed were the safest and easiest to move as well¡­ not only that, I was able to see the spots where they checked their traps and confirmed if some random animals had activated them. The goblins, clever in their own way, had an innate understanding of their environment, and they made full use of the resources the forest provided to craft a variety of traps. These traps weren¡¯t the simple, crude designs that one might expect from such primitive creatures, but rather well-thought-out mechanisms that took advantage of the natural surroundings to create obstacles for anyone who wandered into their territory. Pitfalls, snare traps, spike traps, walls filled with spikes¡­ they were very cunning. Altogether, these traps were not just crude methods of defense, they were intelligent, adaptable, and made with the knowledge of the land, using the surrounding resources in every possible way. The forest, with its dense trees, winding paths, and natural elements, became a deadly maze under the goblins¡¯ hands. Anyone foolish enough to enter their territory would find themselves at the mercy of the cunning forest traps. They only checked the traps toward the human fortress, and soon they began to return to their base¡­ at that point in time, I decided to finish them off from behind. Since I targeted the ones closest to me first, they never realized what had happened. ¡®It is already past noon¡­ I guess this is enough for today. I am thirsty and I need to rest for a bit. I should rest as much as possible before coming here tomorrow. I want to come even before sunrise, but I am not that familiar with the terrain yet. I might end up falling for some traps.¡¯ While returning, I didn¡¯t drop my guard since there was a chance that the monsters would find my traces, but around four in the afternoon, I was back at the fortress without sustaining any damage. Maybe it was because of that. The guards looked at me head from toe, as if they were trying to imagine how well I did against the monsters. I just ignored them and headed to the crystal. It was still not very late, but I was surprised to see that not many people had returned from their hunts. I would have imagined that they started late, thanks probably because they were tired or something like that, but it didn¡¯t matter, anyway. Before long, I reached the crystal, and it began to react to my approach.
Calculating your rewards¡­ 18 Slain goblins = 180 points. 11 traps found = 33 points. 01 trap disarmed = 10 points. 01 fortification found = 30 points. No damage = 50 points.
You received 152 experience points and 151 copper coins.
The Primary class Archer leveled up. Strength + 02, Dexterity + 03, Endurance + 02, Free points + 03
Sean Primary Classes: Archer Lv 02 Health: 80/80 Mana: 100/100 Stamina: 120/120 Strength: 11 Dexterity: 12 Magic: 06 Vitality: 08 Spirit: 10 Endurance: 12 Luck: 05 Free Points: 03 Techniques: Power Shot Lv 01 Spells: Effects: Archery Lv 01 ¡®So, it works like that, huh? Interesting.¡¯ This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. A bunch of coins appeared in front of me and then I grabbed them just like that. It didn¡¯t seem much, but it was the result of a day¡¯s work. A very tense one, so I felt proud. There were things that I could have done better, I am sure, but I did the best that I could, given the knowledge that I had. Before it got dark, I went to check the inns and how they worked¡­ They asked for ten copper coins for the night. They had an open bath that we could use as much as we wanted as long as we followed some rules, but they didn¡¯t offer food. After walking around a bit more, I was able to tell that few places offered the same products and services. The whole fortress had been clearly designated that each person that wasn¡¯t us, the cannon fodder, would be able to do their job equally and be paid equally for it as well. I was thinking about that while I was cleaning myself in the open bath. That was essentially a hot spring. There was one for males and another for females, and they were on the opposite sides of the building. As I felt the exhaustion leaving my body, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡®It feels like I became a cog¡­ I chose to fight, but my options were still limited. Anyway, why do crafters and a special guild exist when the people of the fortress can do the same job and they were chosen to do so as well?¡¯ I could only imagine that it was in order to use those people to build other bases deeper in the territory of this place¡­ island, continent, or whatever. After thinking a bit more about it, I realized that the crystal was also something that the people brought here. There was no way that they chose this place at random. ¡®I don¡¯t like to keep going like this, walking in the dark while others force me to fight, but for now, I don¡¯t have any room to do anything else aside from focusing on my own survival.¡¯ I felt that my body was starting to get too warm, so I decided to leave the open bath and then I went to grab my clothes from the box that I left them in. While I was putting them on, a group of guys entered the place and then frowned while looking at me. It couldn¡¯t be helped that we had to change there, but it felt annoying to have them staring at me while I was putting my clothes and with my back against them. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you the first guy that the captain told you to use the crystal before?¡± I looked over my shoulder and saw that a tall and muscular guy was leading the group of six men. He seemed like the leader of the group, but I felt that a group of six warriors would be quite weird under the circumstances. Still, given that they didn¡¯t have any visible wounds, maybe their group had more than six people and a healer somewhere. The tall man had light brown hair and green eyes. He also had the face of someone who was good at talking with people, or so I felt given his light smile. I would rather not have him smile at me like that while I was putting my clothes on. ¡°Yes, can I help you?¡± ¡°No, I was just asking because you were one of those from the first day that I didn¡¯t see at the meeting today.¡± ¡°Meeting?¡± ¡°All the people that received training reunited this morning to exchange information and form their parties.¡± I didn¡¯t hear about that, obviously, but I doubted that they learned or knew that much. Unless Matilda was an exception and the other guild masters were a bunch of chatterboxes. Still, I could congratulate him for managing to make ninety people follow his lead and do exactly that. Not to mention, they left the fortress and made some money too, otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be here. ¡°I see. I went to hunt earlier and the other guys were those who didn¡¯t want to fight. They tried to live outside, but they were killed by goblins. I saw their bodies.¡± ¡°Goblins¡­ I didn¡¯t think of this world until now, but the image of the monster suddenly appeared in my head.¡± The other guys also nodded with a serious expression. This place was truly such an odd place, so it wasn¡¯t surprising to me that they felt like that or reacted like that. Regardless, I finished putting my clothes on and decided to move. ¡°Hey, my name is Carlos. Can I meet with you somewhere to exchange information?¡± For a moment, I considered agreeing to Carlos¡¯ request. Exchanging information could be useful, and staying connected with others might have its advantages. However, the thought of sitting down and talking about what little I knew felt like a bother. I had barely scratched the surface of this place¡¯s dangers, and sharing anything too soon could lead to troubling consequences. It wasn¡¯t just about keeping information to myself, I had to consider how others would act on it. If they made reckless decisions based on half-baked knowledge, it could create more problems than solutions. Besides, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if Carlos and his group had the same priorities as me. Trust wasn¡¯t something I was willing to hand out freely just yet. More than that, I was particularly concerned about the goblin camp. If too many people found out about it and decided to launch an attack, it would quickly turn into a large-scale battle. That kind of chaos wasn¡¯t something I wanted to be caught up in, at least not yet. Right now, my goal was to grow stronger at my own pace. Rushing into a major fight without the right preparation was just asking for trouble. I needed time to understand the strengths and weaknesses of both my enemies and myself before committing to something that could change the balance of power in this world. Letting Carlos in on what I knew might push things in a direction I wasn¡¯t ready for, and I had no intention of letting someone else dictate the pace of my progress. ¡°I don¡¯t know much yet, but I will look for you if I find any piece of useful information.¡± I left the place before Carlos could respond to my words. I wasn¡¯t certain if he was one of the leaders of the ninety remaining people, but it wasn¡¯t a good idea to antagonize him, even more so when he looked pretty easy to talk to. However, if he was the person who truly considered the well-being of everyone over his own, while he would be a good leader, he was also the type who would force others to work together with him. In a situation like this, outlines like me would be in trouble. ¡®Am I doing the right thing?¡¯ I wanted to believe that I was doing what was logical for my own well-being. After seeing those bodies, I realized that I didn¡¯t want to die unless I died following what I believed in while doing my best. I couldn¡¯t do that following others. Perhaps becoming a hunter wasn¡¯t so bad and it really agreed with me. With those thoughts in mind, I went to eat¡­ an ordinary set of meals was five copper coins, and I asked for three of them since I didn¡¯t eat anything that day so far. The food was simple, but fresh enough to make it tasty. I didn¡¯t know if it was the same type of thing that I ate before, but the meal felt familiar with fish, grains, and a bittersweet juice. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°This can be a problem. We lost the chance to become the leaders of the group. That guy is good at making people walk at the beat of his drum. We might be able to stand out and become leaders of a smaller group, but as long as he is there, we won¡¯t become the real leaders.¡± I was a bit surprised to overhear that conversation, they were whispering, after all.. It seemed that not everyone who came with us was happy about Carlos taking the lead. Until now, I had assumed most people were just going along with things, trying to survive, but apparently, some were already thinking about power and leadership. It wasn¡¯t too strange. After all, in a situation like this, having influence meant better resources, safety, and control over decisions. Still, I hadn¡¯t expected people to be so openly concerned about it, especially when Carlos hadn¡¯t forced anyone to follow him. He had simply stepped up and managed to get others to listen, which was more than what most had done. What struck me as even stranger was how casually these guys were talking about it. Even though they were whispering, it didn¡¯t help much. Anyone paying attention could pick up on their conversation. That level of carelessness felt odd, considering none of us had memories, and we had only known each other for seven days. Normally, you¡¯d expect people in our situation to be more cautious about who they trusted or what they said aloud. Yet, here they were, already scheming and plotting as if they had long-standing grudges or ambitions. It made me wonder just how quickly people adapted to their circumstances, or if some instinct, like the hunger for power, didn¡¯t need memories to resurface. ¡®Birds of a feather flock together¡­ I guess those who are like this can find others like them.¡¯ There weren¡¯t others here eating in this restaurant, so they didn¡¯t mind me that much since I wasn¡¯t part of their group. Regardless, I decided to eat my food and move on with my life, since I didn¡¯t have time for trouble when it comes to group politics. When I went to my room and managed to lie on my bed, I felt the exhaustion taking over me. Still, I had a bit of time to realize that I needed to be more mindful of my surroundings. If there are people like that group nearby, they probably would keep watching the crystal to see how much each person would make and find the easiest targets too. ¡®I wonder¡­ the crystal calculated accomplishments, but what about crimes?¡¯ I grunted in annoyance. I had so little information that was truly vexing. My best option was to try to learn a new skill from Matilda and convince her to give some extra pieces of information. In the end, I put the chair to block the door just in case before I fell asleep. When I woke up, the sky on the horizon was getting brighter, so I decided to hurry up and then get ready to leave. It was better to keep my movements hidden, but I couldn¡¯t escape the eyes of the guards at the gates. Chapter 07 - Team Work? For starters, I decided to check the location of the traps and soon disarmed them. I didn¡¯t wait for the goblins to show up since it was early in the morning, after all. At the same time, it would be easier to target them by watching them leave their fortress. ¡®I have some provisions. Should I try to ambush them at night? I bet that I could gain more rewards by sniping the archers on the walls.¡¯ That was risky, since that would make it clear that someone was hunting them. It also would be troublesome if I am forced to run away at night. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult to get lost instead. In the best-case scenario, I would be luring the monsters to our fortress. In the end, I decided to just hunt the monsters for a bit longer and see how my parameters affected my strength. Truth be told, I didn¡¯t notice any changes after the level up. Regardless, around seven in the morning, I finished disarming all the traps in the direction of our fortress and then began to watch the goblins¡¯ base. It only took a couple of minutes before I saw some of them leaving the fortress¡­ five of them. ¡®This could be a problem.¡¯ Not only their numbers were a problem, their weapons too. Three of them had bows, simple and low-quality bows, but they didn¡¯t have to charge at me to attack with them. I hesitated for a moment, but soon shook my head. I couldn¡¯t keep running away¡­ the more I get used to this kind of situation, the easier I will adapt to this place and the stronger I will get too. I took a deep breath and then cleared my mind. The only thought that I had was putting the arrows on the heads of the monsters. I wasn¡¯t going to fail¡­ still, just to be sure, I used my free points to increase my dexterity. I probably could make the arrows more powerful by increasing my strength. No, that would definitely happen, but for now, I just wanted to hit them no matter what. I followed the enemies until they reached the area of the first trap and soon left the tall grass when they realized that the spike trap was exposed. Without hesitation, I nocked and unleashed an arrow in no time. The arrow hit the nape of the first target, even though I had aimed a bit lower. When the creature fell and the monsters looked at the body, I was already unleashing the next arrow. The poor goblin got hit in the head and fell dead immediately¡­ The other three had the chance to see me, but before the third archer had the chance nock its own arrow, it was hit in the head as well. A smile almost escaped from my mouth while I was readying the next arrow. The remaining two charged and soon jumped and threw their spears. I was surprised to see them flying straight at me, so I threw myself to the side to avoid them. I heard the sound of them crossing the air a few centimeters away from me, making the hair on my back stand as I felt a weird cold against my skin. I got up while already aiming and unleashed the arrow¡­ the projectile hit the target five meters away, but then I was forced to drop the bow and grab my knife when the final goblin jumped toward me. ¡®Die, cursed, human. Die!¡¯ I didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment. I swung my knife straight at the goblin¡¯s head, aiming to end the fight as quickly as possible. However, the creature reacted faster than I expected, raising its left arm to block the strike. My blade cut into its flesh, but it wasn¡¯t a fatal blow. Before I could pull back for another attack, the goblin lunged forward and grabbed my wrist, its sharp teeth snapping dangerously close to my skin. A wave of urgency hit me, but my body moved on instinct. I immediately pressed my other hand against the goblin¡¯s forehead, shoving it back with all my strength to keep those fangs away. For a moment, we were locked in a struggle, my grip pushing against its head while it tightened its hold on my arm. The goblin was surprisingly strong, far more than I had anticipated from its small frame. I could feel my muscles straining, my heart pounding as I fought to keep its jaws away. At that moment, I wasn¡¯t thinking about the no-damage reward or any kind of strategy. The only thing that mattered was stopping the creature from sinking its teeth into my flesh. I gritted my teeth, focusing on breaking free and finishing the fight before the goblin had another chance to retaliate. In the end, I pushed my body forward and then let it fall over the monster. The creature grunted in pain, but I used the extra weight of my body to push the head of the monster up and down several times. Each strike made the monster groan in pain more and more until it started to get dizzy. When the grip of the monster grew weak, I used all my might to free the knife and then pierce the throat of the beast. The creature trembled a bit in agony, but soon it stopped moving and I got up, covered in blood. I could click my tongue in annoyance¡­ I felt my chest trembling thanks to the effort that I made. Even though it only took a couple of seconds, the tension was just too damn annoying. ¡®The smell of blood will make them find me with more ease¡­ I can wash it a bit in the ocean, but then I won¡¯t be able to watch their base.¡¯ The chance of knowing where all the enemies are and of having the power of the pre-emptive strike was something that I could afford to lose, so I could only sigh in exasperation. I stopped to think for a bit longer and then decided to use that as an opportunity as well. They might sense the smell of blood, but if they only find the bodies of the goblins, they won¡¯t be able to tell that I was nearby. It was a bold move, but it could work. I got unlucky since five of those things came this time around, but this shouldn¡¯t be something that was to happen often. I looked around and tried to check what I could use. I still could see the goblins¡¯ fortress in the distance and while there are some trees around, they wouldn¡¯t be that useful aside from taking over. I decided to drag the bodies of the monsters far away from each other¡­ that way, I would be able to know where the monsters would go and then my aim would be easier. If they are stupid enough, they will move away from each other. ¡®I didn¡¯t have time to notice it, but I guess that my aim improved a bit.¡¯ I decided to check that by hitting the same spot on a tree over and over again and then guess my best distance now. I was pretty used to hitting targets thirty meters away, but after some tests, I could hit things with ninety percent accuracy at around 50 and 45 yards away from me. ¡®I guess in due time, I will be able to snipe those freaks from one hundred meters away¡­ I need to increase my strength to make the arrows fly in a straight line toward the targets as well, so it might take a while.¡¯ I decided to lie low on the tall grass and just wait to see what happens since I could see two sides of the enemy¡¯s base as well. Even if I didn¡¯t have much cover, that would be helpful. Thanks to that, I saw other groups heading west. Much to my surprise, that group had a leader, and it was a goblin that was even taller than me. Four goblin spearmen were following the creature as well. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡®Those guys I killed must have left to hunt for food and check the traps, but these guys want something else.¡¯ That goblin leader looked like he hit the gym for a while. His skin shouldn¡¯t be that easy to pierce with my arrows. For now, they were fine, but they eventually would lose durability as well. It was better to upgrade my arrows and bow before I try to pick a fight with one of their big shots. Regardless, my plan worked and several groups of goblins appeared in the area and when they noticed the smell of blood, they went to check the direction of the bodies and that made their footsteps easy to follow. Out of fifteen of them, thirteen died with arrows on their faces and all that happened before noon. That was a good hunt, but soon I clicked my tongue when I heard some voices coming from the north. I raised my head just a bit to see some people that came from the human fortress¡¯ direction. ¡®Only five? They seem relaxed¡­ ah, right? The bodies of the goblins that I killed yesterday vanished, so they didn¡¯t find any signs of danger until now, aside from the traps.¡¯ That seemed like a scouting party, a very relaxed one given that they had two warriors, two mages and a priest walking side by side. I remained hidden until the last moment, only when they were ten meters away they began to feel the smell of blood and soon they saw the fortress in the distance as well. They pointed their weapons at me when I raised from the tall grass with my bow in hand. ¡°Can I help you?¡± ¡°You are¡­¡± They showed varied expressions when they recognized me. The warriors seemed a bit annoyed while the others looked around with worried expressions. I wondered if some rumors about me were starting to spread. If he wanted to keep his nice guy image, Carlos wouldn¡¯t talk about me to others, but the other guys that were with him probably began to talk about me. ¡°Just a hunter that is setting a trap to some monsters. If you don¡¯t mind, can you head somewhere else?¡± ¡°... Did you do this?¡± The leader of the group stepped forward when he saw the bodies of the goblins that I had killed. It seemed that he was going to pretend that he didn¡¯t hear my words. That was troubling. He had short black hair and a good physique as well. He kept walking with a round shield and a one handed sword in hand, but he didn¡¯t look particularly tired. ¡°Well?¡± ¡°Well, what?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to answer my question?¡± ¡°Only after you answer mine.¡± The mood shifted almost instantly, the air between us growing heavier with tension. My words had clearly struck a nerve. The warriors stiffened, and the mages exchanged glances, their previous ease giving way to mild discomfort. They didn¡¯t like how I had pointed out their carelessness, especially since I hadn¡¯t said anything wrong. It was one thing to make a mistake, but being called out on it so directly in front of their peers probably stung their pride. The leader¡¯s jaw tightened slightly, but he didn¡¯t immediately snap back at me, which meant he wasn¡¯t completely ruled by his emotions. Still, he definitely wasn¡¯t happy. While their reaction was a little troublesome, I had no regrets about what I¡¯d said. I knew all too well that acting like a pushover wouldn¡¯t do me any favors. If I let people talk down to me or push me around just because they had a group, it would set a precedent that I wasn¡¯t willing to accept. It was better to make my stance clear from the beginning. If they wanted to talk, we¡¯d talk as equals, not as some scouting group interrogating a lone hunter. Whether they liked it or not, I wasn¡¯t about to let them dictate the conversation. ¡°We will leave and not bother you, but we need to know what is ahead. In order to make sure that others won¡¯t be surprised by any kind of attacks or ambushes.¡± It looks like their leader decided to compromise. I wasn¡¯t sure how much he was being genuine, but I couldn¡¯t just keep assuming things. As long as I tell them some things, they will be satisfied and if they don¡¯t respect my hunting grounds, then things can start to get sour and I won¡¯t need to worry about anything. ¡°Pretty much all the area from our fortress to this place is the goblins¡¯ territory since it is filled with traps and they check the area often for targets and things to hunt.¡± ¡°Anything else that you can share with us?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you for cooperating with us.¡± That guy turned around and then said something to his friends and soon they turned and left as well. I watched them for a while until they disappeared in the distance. I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Perhaps it was a good idea to change my way of hunting, just in case. While I was considering my options, the afternoon came and ended¡­ Some goblins showed up to attack, but they didn¡¯t cause much trouble in the end. I kept my eye on the other side of the enemy¡¯s camp and soon found that big goblin returning to the base while carrying a big boar-like creature on its shoulder¡­ it seemed that it had left to hunt as well. Nothing else unusual happened for the rest of the day, which should have been a relief, but instead, it left me feeling uneasy. Some people like to say that no news is good news, but I wasn¡¯t so sure about that. Silence could just as easily mean that trouble was brewing beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment to strike. I didn¡¯t like not knowing where things stood or whether my surroundings were truly under control. Up until now, I had been able to operate freely, managing my own hunts without interference, but that had changed the moment those people found my hunting grounds. Now, there was an uncertainty that I couldn¡¯t ignore. Would they return? Would they decide to stake a claim to this area, or worse, bring even more people with them? There were too many questions and not enough answers, and that made it impossible to relax. If I wanted to keep things in my favor, I would need to adapt before someone else forced me to a troublesome position. For now, I decided to keep my eyes open and take things one step at a time, but I knew I couldn¡¯t afford to stay passive for long. ¡®I am not entirely sure if I can claim that entire area as my hunting ground, but even if I can¡¯t, people will regret taking that from me since they don¡¯t know about that variation of a goblin.¡¯
Calculating your rewards¡­ 28 Slain goblins = 280 points. 11 traps found = 33 points. 11 trap disarmed = 110 points. 01 boss found = 50 points. No damage = 50 points. 01 gem upgraded = +50 points. 02 skills upgraded = +100 points.
You received 338 experience points and 337 copper coins.
The Primary class Archer leveled up. Strength + 04, Dexterity + 06, Endurance + 04, Free points + 06
I wanted to smile when I saw my new parameters and the money that fell in my hands, but just as I had imagined, I could see some people around paying attention to how much I had received. Even if they couldn¡¯t tell from a distance, they could tell based on the color and have a fair estimation. ¡®I am not really that surprised¡­ just annoyed. Oh, yeah¡­ I have to check that too.¡¯
Wooden Bow (Common) (Swift Killing Gem) Attack: 05 Durability: 15/15
Swift Killing Gem (Lv 02) It grants you a boost of twenty percent movement speed for a second multiplied by the level of the gem after you kill an enemy. The time can be increased the more you kill enemies and keep the gem equipped. It can also stack for its duration.
I wasn¡¯t surprised to see the parameters of my bow, but I didn¡¯t know that I could do that. In any case, the crystal and its power could tell how much a value was better than the other, but without that, I would have to train my eye. Regardless, I decided to check some shops before getting ready for dinner. Chapter 08 - Stepping Stone Just as one would expect, there was pretty much everything to be sold in the fortress. Items to clean weapons, to make them, to repair them, and ready-made weapons as well. I also found some other types of arrows aside from the iron arrowheads. It made sense, since Matilda had the ones made of obsidian. Steel arrows cost one silver coin each, so it was a bit expensive for the current me, but I could tell just by glance how sharp it was and how powerful it was as well. I had to buy them at some point. Perhaps that would be less expensive than buying a new bow early on. It might have been a bit early, but I ended up buying a copy of my knife. I wasn¡¯t going to learn dual wielding immediately, but after the previous fight that turned into melee, I realized that I couldn¡¯t keep a single hand free doing nothing with it. ¡®If I keep it well hidden, I could surprise my enemies with this. I just need to get used to it as well.¡¯ At the moment of the fight, there was no room for second-guessing. The goblin had been an immediate threat, and I had acted on instinct. My heart had pounded, adrenaline coursing through me as I aimed to survive, to overcome the danger. In the heat of the moment, the act of cutting down the goblin hadn¡¯t fazed me that much. It was either him or me. I had been focused on the necessity of the action, not the morality of it. The efficiency of my blade had been the only thing on my mind, and in that way, it had felt almost like a simple task, one that could be justified by the fact that it was a battle for my life. But now, away from the chaos, the reality of what I had done began to settle in. The image of the goblin¡¯s blood on my knife, the way it had fallen after my strike, it was all replaying in my mind, vivid and unsettling. It wasn¡¯t like shooting them from a distance, where the kill felt impersonal, disconnected. With a bow, I could pretend there was less involvement, that it was simply an arrow finding its target. But with a blade in my hand, there was a rawness to it. I had felt the weight of the weapon, the way the blade sliced through the goblin¡¯s flesh. The closeness of it, the physicality, made the violence feel more real, and for the first time, I couldn¡¯t shake the uncomfortable truth that I had taken a life up close. It was a feeling I hadn¡¯t expected, and one that I wasn¡¯t sure how to process yet. I decided not to dwell too much on it and then I went to rent the same room in the same inn and, after cleaning myself, I went to the same restaurant. It was still early, but it was still better than being bothered by others. I wondered if this part of my nature was also what made me become a hunter. ¡°Hey, I finally found you.¡± I fought hard not to let out a sigh escape my mouth once I recognized that voice. I was in the corner of the restaurant, sitting on the side of the table to have a clear view of the place, but since it was empty, I kept my head down as I waited for my food. Still, I was raised when I recognized Carlos¡¯ voice. As if that was the most natural thing in the world, he approached. He was alone this time around for some reason. ¡°Can I sit here and talk with you for a moment?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Thanks. I heard a report from one of the scouting parties and they told me what you found. They said that you seemed a bit on edge, but that nothing happened.¡± ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°We are still mapping the area, and we already found another fortress in the North, but the one in the south has a lot fewer enemies and it is smaller too, so we were thinking of attacking that. Naturally, we would need your cooperation.¡± It wasn¡¯t surprising at all to hear that Carlos was moving quickly with their plans. From what I knew about the group, they had the numbers, the equipment, and probably the experience of taking on goblins without much trouble, even if it was a bit too soon. There was a certain level of confidence in his voice when he spoke about the smaller fortress to the south, and it was clear they expected to handle it with ease. Given their capabilities, I had no doubt that they would be successful, but what caught my attention was their intention to move on to a larger fortress afterward. That wasn¡¯t something that would come without preparation, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if there was more to this strategy than just a straightforward attack. A bigger fortress was a serious challenge, and I began to suspect that they might be using the southern one as a sort of warm-up. It seemed too convenient, almost like a stepping stone for something more important. If they really planned to challenge a larger, more heavily defended fortress, they would need every advantage they could get, more experience, stronger weapons. The fact that they were eyeing the smaller one first made me think they were looking to build up their strength before taking on something truly difficult. They probably needed the resources and the experience that fortress could offer, not to mention the chance to gauge their abilities before going up against a bigger challenge. ¡°There are some monsters further west in this place that roam around, but it is hard to level up and we can¡¯t go far without enough resources. We heard that we can get extra materials and weapons in the goblins camps and we will be rewarded more by the crystal as well if we destroy it. So, we were considering that. However, we won¡¯t get into your territory. I understand that you prefer to work solo since you don''t have the chance to team up with anyone, but in exchange for working with us, I can guarantee you that we will allow you to choose the best three pieces of gear that we find in that fortress.¡± That wasn¡¯t a bad offer. Actually, it sounded too good to be true. Still, by imagining Carlos¡¯ perspective, I imagined that his group would stick together more if they keep this kind of thing as a goal and if they succeed, then most of them will feel more prone to follow his lead. They all would get stronger together and then they would be able to explore more of the land. I couldn¡¯t care less about his goals and methods, but this could be a good chance for me as well. I was a back liner and those guys would draw all the attention of the monsters while I attacked them. Adding that to all the items that I could choose from the monsters, this was a golden chance for me to get stronger and faster. It would be more efficient to just take my time killing the goblins by myself, but did I really have the time to take things slowly? ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind working with you all. As long as the attack happens soon and while I wait, no one goes there to mess up with my hunting spot.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°We can use tomorrow to check the base, but the scouts won¡¯t get in your way. We will also plan how we will attack in the next day based on that. Is that alright with you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Carlos offered a handshake. I stared at him for a moment and then accepted his hand. Eventually, he left the restaurant and I finally could enjoy my meal in peace. Without considering what I could earn from this, it was clear that this agreement was a waste of time for me. I would show my skill and I would allow others to do what they wanted as well. For all intentions and purposes, that was bad news. However, sooner or later, I would need to confirm several things. The first was if those guys would see me as a nuisance and then they would do something against me. Even if they don¡¯t do that, if they don¡¯t keep their word, then that would mean that I wouldn¡¯t have to waste time dealing with them as well. Wasting some levels and coins to confirm if those guys weren¡¯t worth my time seemed like a cheap investment. Just like Carlos and his group were using this as a way to assess their strength and build cohesion, I could do the same. This was a perfect opportunity to observe and categorize the surrounding people, those who could become a nuisance, those who could be a real problem, and those who might already be stronger than me. The nuisances were the ones who would get in my way, either by interfering with my hunting grounds, trying to boss me around, or just causing trouble for no good reason. While they weren¡¯t an immediate threat, they could slow me down or make things more annoying than they needed to be. Then there were the real problems, the people who had their own agendas and weren¡¯t above using others to get what they wanted. They were the ones I had to be most careful around because they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to throw me under the bus if it benefited them. As for those who were stronger than me, they were the biggest variable. If they had no reason to care about me, that was fine, but if they saw me as a competition or a potential threat, that could lead to problems. I needed to be mindful of how they interacted with others, how they fought, and how they handled themselves in a group. Were they the type to follow orders, or were they more independent? Did they respect agreements, or did they only care about their own gain? Understanding these things would be just as important as getting stronger myself. I couldn¡¯t afford to be blindsided by someone simply because I underestimated them. If I played this right, I could learn a lot without drawing too much attention to myself, and that kind of information would be invaluable in the long run. ¡®I guess they might consider their plans for a few more days if they see that bigger goblin¡­ if they are smart. Considering my parameters alone, I have gotten two times stronger than I was three days ago, but I wonder if that is accurate. I also wonder how many times the big one is stronger than the ordinary ones. Regardless, I need to work hard to make sure that I won¡¯t fall behind anyone in this group, then I will have to work hard to catch up with the others¡­¡¯ It goes without saying that I wanted to kill that one, but how many arrows in the head would kill that beast? The chances of hitting them are supposed to be lower than well. I returned to my room while thinking of what I could do to make the most out of that attack. The best option would always be to look for hurt or busy enemies and then kill them while they are fighting someone else, but that felt cowardly and stupid since I only had a limited amount of arrows with me. Going back on my word was out of the question as well, and I couldn¡¯t learn any new skills in such a short window of time that could help me in that regard. The best option seemed to be to buy more arrows. Another idea came to my mind, but I soon shook my head. That was definitely impossible¡­ ¡®That wouldn¡¯t have to rely on me, but if those guys are stupid, then it isn¡¯t completely out of the question. It is annoying because it is something beyond my control.¡¯ With those thoughts in mind, I went to sleep and, just like before, I woke up when the sun was rising and then left the fortress. I made sure to disarm the traps instead of destroying them in order to get more experience and gold out of the goblins, but nothing says that they would set the traps in the same spots. Still, finding them wasn¡¯t hard¡­ because some goblins were lying low near them. ¡®I guess they don¡¯t think that their smell is that bad¡­ Regardless, disarming all the traps and killing so many of them came with some demerits, apparently.¡¯ The goblins also remained in the tall grass, but finding their location was easy, since the traps were in the original places. Given that, I just had to stay away from the areas that they would most likely set them up. With that in mind, I ambushed those groups the entire morning. They underestimated me since they only came in groups of three. Still, while I broke my record of slaying as many of them in a single day, I couldn¡¯t help but frown since I didn¡¯t find the scouts that Carlos told that they would come. ¡®Well, this is weird, but certainly not my problem¡­ they aren¡¯t on this side, but they should have come through the beach, I would guess.¡¯ Going through the beach would have been a smart way to avoid the traps, but it came with its own risks. The sea breeze would carry their scent inland, making it easier for the goblins to pick up on their presence. Unlike me, who had been carefully managing my approach and staying aware of how my scent could give me away, they probably weren¡¯t considering that. Warriors, priests, and mages were skilled in their own ways, but when it came to hunting and stealth, they were lacking. It wasn¡¯t exactly surprising. Most of them were probably used to fighting head-on rather than setting ambushes or tracking enemies. If they were already committed to scouting that way, then it wouldn¡¯t make much difference now without saying anything. Besides, if they couldn¡¯t figure out something that basic, then it wasn¡¯t really my problem. At most, it just meant I had to be prepared in case their mistakes ended up affecting my own plans. Whether that meant more goblins showing up in response to their scent or them getting into trouble and needing backup, I¡¯d have to wait and see. For now, I¡¯d focus on my own hunt. Just when I thought of that, in the distance, I could see the gates of the goblin fortress opening and a bunch of them leaving at the same time¡­they all began to head east, toward the beach. ¡®Oh boy¡­ they are worse than I thought.¡¯ Despite saying that, I couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit. I soon corrected that, though. That was what I had imagined before, that the scouts would mess up and then draw a lot of the goblins out of the fortress to look for them. I decided not to plan my actions based on their stupidity, but I decided to be mindful of it and use it to my advantage. If they die, it wouldn¡¯t be my problem since I didn¡¯t exactly use them as bait. ¡®I guess I can only accept the fact that I am a bit cold? Ruthless, or uncaring about others? This isn¡¯t good, but in a situation like this, what are exactly my options? Team up with retards and try to mend their ways at the cost of my life? No, thanks.¡¯ I carefully advanced toward the fortress while trying to remain hidden in the grass. I was only able to get around thirty meters away from the gate, but I could see the interior since they left those open. The goblin fortress wasn¡¯t much different from ours, sure it was a lot more dirty and unorganized, but they had buildings for pretty much everything and a lot of houses as well. In a hurry, I could see a bunch of female goblins approaching the gates with bows in hand since the guys who are supposed to guard them left and before long, I was able to see even smaller goblins with stone knives in their hands¡­ These were children of the goblins. ¡®This is going to be tough in more ways than one.¡¯ Chapter 09 - Dilemma I counted around four hundred goblins who had left their fortress to look for the moronic scouts. The defenses of the fortress were low at the moment. I could unleash an attack there and weaken their numbers even more, but I hesitated in doing that. I only have the same amount of arrows now, after all. With the weapons in hands, the goblin kids wouldn¡¯t just watch me doing that. ¡®I guess there is a bit of conscience inside me left. Not like I am thankful for it now.¡¯ I was almost certain that I was going to regret this, but it was better than becoming a cold blood killer. I imagined that Carlos wanted to exterminate all the goblins in this fortress since he didn¡¯t see them as anything but mindless beasts. But I wondered if he would change his mind once he heard them talking. I at least didn¡¯t want to let others decide for me if those creatures were all mindless beasts or enemies. Regardless, I didn¡¯t have to get all philosophical now, so I headed in the direction the monsters headed to. After less than five minutes, I was able to see the sea in the distance and a group of goblins returning¡­ It looked like they were the guards who left their positions, but the main force was still nowhere to be seen. There were sixteen of them¡­ apparently, they had four guards in each gate and that was a number that would be difficult for me to handle by myself. I silently moved to the side of the area through the grass to leave their path, but I still turned around when I could see them from the sides. ¡®No point in only taking risks that are too small. No pain, no gain, I guess¡­¡¯ While nocking an arrow, I used my free points to increase my strength. I didn¡¯t want to risk using more than one arrow per enemy if I wanted to survive this, after all. The bow and pull of the bowstring felt lighter than before and my confidence in my aim increased¡­ It was just a fraction of a second, but I felt that I aimed faster than usual thanks to that. I released the first arrow and soon nocked the second. At that moment the projectile hit the head of the first target. The result had been quite gruesome. The arrow pierced the skull of the monster easily and the impact even raised the body of the monster for a few centimeters before snapping its neck. The next few moments were a blur of rapid movements and steady breath. I fired two more arrows in quick succession, each one striking its target with pinpoint accuracy. The next goblin staggered backward, its face crumpling under the weight of the arrow, while the second took an arrow to the chest, dropping to the ground instantly. The shots felt effortless, the power in my arms and the control over my aim flowing with ease. I could barely hear the thud of their bodies hitting the earth over the pounding of my own heart. Before the remaining goblins could even locate my position, forty meters away, my fingers steady as I nocked yet another arrow. The sight of their fallen comrades was clearly a shock to them. I saw their eyes widen for a moment, their usual anger momentarily faltering as they processed the sudden loss. But it didn¡¯t take long for their instincts to kick in. Anger flooded their faces, and without a second thought, they charged toward my location. The fury in their eyes wasn¡¯t one of fear but of resolve, something far more dangerous. It didn¡¯t matter how much damage I¡¯d done, or how much they¡¯d lost already. When the fourth goblin fell, eight of them charged at me, while the remaining four drew their bows and aimed their arrows at my head. I kept looking at the monsters charging, but my eyesight didn¡¯t leave the archers. In the next three seconds, I fired three more arrows and hit the chests of three goblins that were unable to approach. At the same time, I threw myself to the side when three arrows flew toward me. I couldn¡¯t see them well enough to tell if they would hit me or not, but I didn¡¯t want to take any chances. One of the goblins finally reached me and then tried to stab me with a wooden spear, but I had the chance to drop the bow and grab a knife. It wasn¡¯t the best of options to block any kind of attack, but it still worked, and the weight behind the enemy¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t that difficult. I tried to use Takedown and forced the enemy to stumble forward and then slashed its throat. The other goblins surrounded me and then tried to stab me with their spears at the same time, but I jumped with all my might and then avoided their weapons as I reached only two meters of height. Still, the fall made me land on the spears and make one of them break while the others touched the ground. After stepping to the side, I swung my knife and cut the throat of two other goblins deeply, making a lot of blood gushing from the wound. The other goblins recovered and the archers also launched a barrage of arrows at me, but I threw myself on the side once more and positioned myself to use the front liners as shields. They charged without considering the fact that they were blocking the field of vision of their allies and then tried to reach me. I blocked one spear with the knife and then grabbed another with my hand. I felt the tip of the weapon slicing the palm of my hand, but I ignored that since I had to take some damage to finish things faster. I pulled the spear to the side and made the goblin stumble, before stabbing him in the chest. The creature trembled in pain, but soon fell. As the last goblin spearman realized the tide had completely turned, it spun on its heels and tried to flee toward the archers. But I wasn¡¯t about to let it escape. In one motion, I threw my knife toward the running creature. The blade spun through the air before striking the goblin¡¯s head, not with the tip, but with the handle. Still, the force was enough to send the creature sprawling to the ground, dazed and motionless. The goblin archers finally saw their opening and loosed a volley of arrows in my direction. But by the time their projectiles cut through the air, I had already sprinted to the side, making them strike nothing but empty space. Without wasting another second, I dove toward where I had dropped my bow, rolling as I snatched it up. Before the archers could fire again, I nocked an arrow and let it fly. The shot found its mark, embedding itself deep in the stomach of one of the beasts. The goblin let out a pained cry before collapsing to the ground, writhing in agony. Now, only three remain. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The other archers released their arrows, but I lowered my stance in time to avoid them. They had good aim as well, but not very good coordination. They weren¡¯t as fast as me, so I was able to kill the final three just fine before they could land a single arrow on me. I sighed in relief and then felt the tension in my body vanishing. Still, another feeling stayed behind for quite a while. It was exciting. It felt odd. I was worried before about killing goblin women and children and now I was here feeling great killing a bunch of their warriors. Was that because they were warriors and I didn¡¯t feel much sense in hunting weaklings? Or was it because I won a battle when I was so heavily outnumbered? ¡®The parameters are making such a difference¡­ I would guess that if the goblins have levels, at least the ones that I faced until now shouldn¡¯t be higher than level two or three.¡¯ I didn¡¯t have the chance to see if the goblins had a crystal for themselves. They didn¡¯t have crystal bracelets, that was for sure. I confirmed that a bunch of times while I recovered my arrows. Still, the smell of blood was something else. It was regretful, but I decided to retreat since the smell of blood in my arrows won¡¯t allow me to ambush the monsters. Fighting them directly was fine and all, but I wasn¡¯t mad enough to face tens of them at the same time. It would be stupid to give them such an advantage. As I made my way back to the fortress, my mind remained on the fight, but more than that, on the implications of what I had just realized. If monsters could level up like us, then it was only a matter of time before the goblins I spared became a real threat. It was an uncomfortable thought, but one I couldn¡¯t ignore. I wondered if Matilda would know the answer. She seemed knowledgeable about the system, so if anyone could confirm whether monsters could gain levels, or even classes, it would be her. If goblins had the potential to grow stronger just like us, then letting them survive wasn¡¯t just an act of mercy. It was a potential death sentence for our own people. That meant the goblin children I had spared earlier might one day become a warrior, or worse, a leader. If left alone, it could be the difference between a manageable enemy and a real problem down the line. The logic was clear, but the thought of hunting them down left a bitter taste in my mouth. Still, war didn¡¯t care about morals, only about survival. If monsters could level up and gain skills, then hesitation now could mean disaster later. I needed answers, and I needed them soon. ¡®I guess this place isn¡¯t a place where people who want to remain moral can survive for long.¡¯ While I was thinking along those lines, I walked toward the crystal, but soon I noticed that something was off. It was still pretty early, but a lot of people were already here, people like me. That wasn¡¯t all. They were whispering something and then looked away when I looked at them. ¡®Hm, it seems that some people are spreading rumors about me. Or maybe I am infamous for hunting alone.¡¯ I didn¡¯t interact with that many people, so not a lot of people had any reason to be suspicious of me, but it is easy to fear or misunderstand those who people don¡¯t make an effort to talk to or understand. That didn¡¯t bother me that much, at least until it became something that truly affects me directly. I couldn¡¯t care less about how others spend their time. Besides, the hunting today was good. Perhaps tomorrow I will have enough money to learn a new skill. With those thoughts in mind, I headed to the crystal.
Calculating your rewards¡­ 49 Slain goblins = 490 points. 11 traps found = 33 points. 11 trap disarmed = 110 points. 01 gem upgraded = +50 points. 02 skills upgraded = +100 points.
You received 342 experience points and 341 copper coins.
The Primary class Archer leveled up. Strength + 04, Dexterity + 06, Endurance + 04, Free points + 06
As expected, the chance of not getting the no damage bonus and finding new things truly affected my gains. I was expecting three level ups, but it wasn¡¯t half bad. I stored my coins thinking about how many more goblins I could deal with thanks to my current power up, but then the stinging pain in my hand made me realize that I was still lacking when it comes to my defenses. For now, I was able to fight without suffering much damage, but just focusing on attacking might eventually come to bite me in the ass, eventually. While I was thinking that I shouldn¡¯t try to stop weapons with my bare hands again, I headed to the shopping district, but soon I stopped when I saw Carlos in the distance. He seemed to be in a hurry and heading in my direction, trying to pretend that I didn¡¯t see him seemed like a pain, and it also felt like it would cause more trouble, so I decided to wait. He was with the usual warriors that were always with him and they seemed more pissed than usual. ¡°Sean, do you have a minute to spare?¡± ¡°If it is only exactly a minute, I do have it.¡± The guys behind Carlos narrowed their eyes, their glares sharp enough to cut through steel. For a second, I thought they might actually say something, but they just stood there, radiating disapproval. It was honestly kind of funny how serious they always were. Did they ever relax? Ever crack a joke? Probably not. But just as quickly as their expressions darkened, they eased up, though I could still feel the tension lingering in the air. I rolled my eyes. Seriously, did they have to take everything so seriously? A little sarcasm never killed anyone. Man, it must be exhausting to be that uptight all the time. No wonder they always looked like they hadn¡¯t slept in weeks. Being that serious 24/7 had to be boring as hell. ¡°Hm, this might take a bit longer than a minute, actually. You were in the area when the goblins chased the scouts, right?¡± ¡°So, was it truly them that made the goblins leave the fortress like that? They didn¡¯t seem suited for the job, given that.¡± ¡°... Three of the six scouts died due to that. Another party of scouts said that you saw that, but did nothing.¡± ¡°They probably should check their eyes. Did they count the number of enemies that left the fortress? I don¡¯t have enough arrows to kill so many enemies. Besides, I was too far away and chasing them would put me in danger if I didn¡¯t manage to escape from them.¡± ¡°That makes sense, but¡­ can you explain the situation in detail in front of everyone? We aren¡¯t planning to postpone the plan of attacking the fortress, but some people are against the idea of joining us, thanks to the report.¡± ¡°In front of everyone? I am going to give a testimony for my own innocence or what?¡± I didn¡¯t think too much about the situation, but the pieces were starting to fall into their respective places. I didn¡¯t see a second scouting party, so I assumed that they ran away when they saw the goblins, but if they saw me, even though I approached while using the tall grass, I could only assume that they had been monitoring me from the beginning. ¡°You told them to follow me?¡± ¡°No, I swear it. They decided this on their own and that party is using this incident as a proof that their own decisions weren¡¯t wrong. The others are starting to be swayed. I don¡¯t want this to become more complicated just when all of us are starting to work together.¡± Chapter 10 - Blame I wondered if I could trust Carlos. He might have given the orders, but also told the parties involved to remain silent about it. In any case, I didn¡¯t have any reason to follow them and I only owe explanation to the people of the fortress if I cause them trouble. Still, that could be a good chance for me. I want to know how those guys operated and how they wanted to cause me trouble. ¡°Alright. Lead the way.¡± Carlos looked a bit surprised. He even blinked a few times, and that was enough to tell that he was expecting some resistance when it came to me going with them. I just kept a blank expression the whole time. ¡°Okay, follow me, then.¡± Carlos began to lead the way and his friends waited for me to go after Carlos. I just kept my arms crossed and then waited for them to go first. Just like they didn¡¯t like someone with a bow walking behind them, I didn¡¯t want a bunch of guys with swords so close to me. Five minutes later, we reached what seemed to be some sort of training ground. It was essentially a field where the grass was pretty short since people trained here and their steps kept the grass short. Everyone that came to this place with us was sitting on the grass or standing with their arms crossed, at least the ones that survived until now. The people who were talking amongst each other suddenly stopped when they saw me and I could see their glare, but I just kept looking straight ahead and not minding them. I could tell that most of them already had made up their minds about what kind of person I was. ¡°Everyone, I brought Sean to talk with us. Please, let¡¯s not assume anything before we hear things from his perspective, alright?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t ask that from us, Carlos. Some of our allies died, and it is clearly because of him.¡± ¡°No, it was because of their incompetence. They lazily avoided the traps in the terrain by going through the beach. Thanks to that, their smell spread fast thanks to the sea breeze. One wouldn¡¯t have to be a genius to know that the goblins made their fortress at such a distance from the sea to catch fools of guard like that.¡± Things got eerily silent after my words. I could feel the weight of every eye on me, and the tension in the air seemed to grow thicker with each passing second. I couldn¡¯t deny that I was being a bit too harsh, especially to those who had lost their lives, but it was the truth. They had died because of their own careless mistakes. They should have known better than to ignore the obvious dangers of the terrain, but they chose to take the easier route, only to be caught in the goblins¡¯ trap. It wasn¡¯t my fault they underestimated the enemy, or their surroundings. I glanced around, seeing some of them clenching their jaws or clenching their fists, clearly torn between their grief and the undeniable logic of my words. The silence hung in the air, like a storm waiting to break. I wasn¡¯t sure whether it was anger, shock, or a mix of both, but I wasn¡¯t about to back down now. I knew I wasn¡¯t wrong. ¡°At the same time, you guys decided that you would scout the area ahead. Since things worked well for you all, since you worked in large groups, you probably assumed that sending a group of warriors wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Scouting work isn¡¯t something that people carrying heavy items should do.¡± Honestly, I felt a bit uncomfortable in this place. Why did I have to point out their mistakes? Was it just to shut up their complaints? Even that seemed a bit cheap and more troublesome than it was worth it. ¡°Let¡¯s not be harsh, Sean¡­ You are talking about people that died, you know. We all made a bunch of mistakes, so I can understand your point of view. However, pointing that out and blaming the dead won¡¯t solve anything.¡± I decided to stay quiet for some time and see how they were planning to follow things up from here. Just telling everyone that they made mistakes wouldn¡¯t make me accomplish my goal, after all. I needed to get a good read of this group as a whole. Some people looked troubled since they could understand my points, others looked even more annoyed. It looked like the second group wanted to dispose of me no matter what, or at least make me unable to do what I wanted. The second option should be more plausible since nothing good would come out if people in our group started to kill each other. ¡°Sean told me that the number of enemies was too high for him alone to be of any help to the scouting group and I find his logic sound. If you have anything to ask about that, then you should ask him.¡± ¡°You are a hunter, right? Couldn¡¯t you have at least tried to approach to split the attention of the goblins? That should have increased the chances of the scouting group.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know of their plans, so I wasn¡¯t aware if they were being attacked or doing something else. I didn¡¯t know their routes either, so I could have fallen for a trap or caused more trouble for them.¡± ¡°You could have at least checked things and seen what you could have done to help.¡± ¡°You were part of the second scouting team, right? If you weren¡¯t busy tailing me, you could have helped them instead.¡± Once again, an uncomfortable silence fell over the group. The guy who had spoken up was the same one I¡¯d overheard at the restaurant, complaining about the lost chance of becoming the leader of this group. His words had been filled with bitterness, and now, as he stood there without responding, my suspicion seemed to be confirmed. He wasn¡¯t just frustrated with the situation; he had personal stakes in the dynamics of the group. I could feel the urge to unmask him, to call him out in front of everyone. Exposing his ambitions and grievances might be the leverage I needed to turn the tide in my favor. If I put him on the spot, it could shift the group¡¯s attention away from my own actions and onto his. The focus would shift, and I could regain control of the talk. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how risky it could be. If I called him out and it backfired, it would make me look like I was grasping for an excuse. I¡¯d seem like I was trying to avoid responsibility by digging into his past complaints instead of dealing with the real issue at hand. Worse, he could easily spin it as me lying to deflect blame, making me look like the instigator rather than the one just pointing out the facts. It wasn¡¯t the kind of move that would earn me allies, it would only make me seem petty and opportunistic. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. I weighed the consequences carefully. The silence dragged on, and I decided to hold my ground for now. There would be other chances to expose weaknesses. For now, I needed to stay focused on the bigger picture. ¡°If no one else has anything to ask, then I will. Sean, would you have helped the group if they had informed you of their plans?¡± ¡°No, I would have pointed out the flaws, but I wouldn¡¯t have helped them with their plan. I didn¡¯t know them, so I wouldn¡¯t have any reason to help them with their crazy plan. Besides, did you tell them to go check the fortress first thing in the morning? Were you worried that I would go back on my word and then get in the way of the plan to destroy the fortress?¡± ¡°... No, I told them to go earlier to find the goblins¡¯ actions as much as possible and to find the best time to attack them. I suppose we all made a lot of mistakes for not realizing that each one of us had roles, and it is hard for mages, warriors, and priests to do the job of scouting.¡± The crafting classes wouldn¡¯t do much better as well, but I thought that at least they wouldn¡¯t make a lot of noise and wouldn¡¯t feel overconfident thanks to the extra defense and power that the other classes had. Things got silent again, and I took a good look around at those people. Around one third of them seemed really annoyed at my words, like I got in the way of their plans, while the remaining two-thirds agreed with Carlos and realized that blaming a single person for all this mess would be stupid. ¡°I was planning to start a poll here to see everyone¡¯s opinions on this matter, but I don¡¯t believe that it is necessary. We don¡¯t have all day, and it is time to plan how we are going to attack the fortress tomorrow. Do any of you have something against this?¡± I was starting to understand how this group worked¡­ It seemed that most people liked and followed Carlos because he was a team player that considered everyone¡¯s opinions. While I thought that such a way of doing things only made some decisions take too long, I could understand that it could be necessary if they wanted to focus on the greater good of the group. At the same time, those who wanted to take his place were the ones who were also against me. I didn¡¯t accomplish much so far and I couldn¡¯t be much stronger than them, but it seemed that they could tell that I had the advantage in a fight against them. They didn¡¯t like me or Carlos because we were threats to their goals of taking the reins of things. Without a rival leader and someone who could challenge their will, they could control the group as much as they wanted. To me, that was a waste of time. What were they planning to do with that influence? Take over the fortress? It didn¡¯t seem like they had considered things that much further ahead, like the fact that some people of the oldest groups should have survived and could be much stronger than us. I didn¡¯t know if those people would return to check on us, but they certainly would have the power to deal with anyone that causes such troubles. ¡°Sean, what can you tell us about the camp? We didn¡¯t obtain much information today, unfortunately. Please, tell us everything. We don¡¯t want to lose any more people.¡± I could only nod silently. I didn¡¯t want innocent people to die either. I wasn¡¯t terrible enough that I would risk letting such people die so that I could gain more experience and reap more benefits. In the end, I told them everything that I knew. About their defenses, the types of monsters and their weapons. How things looked inside and that I had found at least one goblin that seemed stronger than the others. According to the crystal, that was a boss monster. It was easy to tell how troublesome the creature could be given that title alone. Thanks to Sean¡¯s explanations, everyone began to focus on the task ahead and then forgot for a moment what happened earlier. If they wanted to avoid more deaths, then everyone would need to work hard, after all. ¡°I see¡­ I don¡¯t think that we can avoid what needs to be done. The goblins are smart and they probably will remember this if we let some of them live. I don¡¯t like this, but even the goblin children and women will need to be put down if they can use weapons as well.¡± A lot of people lowered their gazes. Thanks. I was expecting to hear a lot of people complaining, but surprisingly enough, no one went against that. They already lost some of their allies, and they could tell what would happen if the goblins could grow and multiply. It would be more trouble to them and to the next wave of prisoners. At that moment, I realized what I hadn¡¯t considered. The next wave of prisoners would be arriving in less than twenty days. That meant more bodies, more people who would need to be accommodated, and, in turn, more tension. I wasn¡¯t planning on sticking around for that long. There was a whole mess of things I needed to sort out, and staying here would be a bother. But that raised another question. Would we even be allowed to stay behind when that time came? I glanced around at the group, wondering if any of them had thought about the influx of new arrivals. After all, there weren¡¯t many rooms available for rent. The fortress wasn¡¯t exactly built to house a constantly growing population, and I doubted they¡¯d have the space, or the patience, to accommodate everyone, especially when tensions were already running high. The thought of having to leave before that wave of prisoners arrived was appealing. But where would I go? What kind of chaos would ensue with all the new arrivals, and how would that affect our current situation? ¡°We don¡¯t have the numerical advantage. They outnumber us five to one, so we will need some other weapons against those numbers. We have magic and a lot of healers, so we can win a war of attrition, but our goal here is to not lose a single person and then decrease the number of enemies, it will be fine if we retreat to finish off the enemies later if things become too dicey.¡± I wanted to sigh. As expected, Carlos was very cautious. Still, I couldn¡¯t complain since I wouldn¡¯t be the one suffering. The frontline would and they would be useful to me during that time¡­ I could at least do what needs to be done to make them survive. ¡°Do you have any idea, Sean? You are the one who has the most experience dealing with them. What can we do to minimize our losses?¡± I crossed my arms and went silent for a moment. I never fought in groups, so I never considered that. Not many ideas were coming to mind, though. ¡°If you want to decrease the losses no matter what, you can use money for that.¡± ¡°Use money?¡± ¡°Yeah, there are those things that people used to clean their weapons. They smell like they can burn well. Use those alongside the mages and that should make a lot of fire spread more efficiently.¡± Carlos held his chin while considering that. Come to think of it, I don¡¯t remember seeing mages in action, but for some reason, I assumed that they could do that, to use fire magic. ¡°All the warriors have shields, but if you make spears and assume a defensive formation, you can still cause a lot of damage while protecting yourselves.¡± ¡°We are going to do that tonight. We already discussed this.¡± ¡°Really, I guess you guys can do it if you try. Finally, even if you don¡¯t know how to use it well, if one hundred people used bows at the start of the battle, the goblin will, at the very least, suffer a lot of damage. Go buy some bows and arrows.¡± Chapter 11 - Side Mission Carlos held his chin while considering that option as well. I wondered if I was being too obvious about my plan. By making a lot of people buy arrows, I could recover them faster on the battlefield and I wouldn¡¯t need to carry a lot of them. Still, my plan had merit for them as well, despite my secret reasoning. ¡°All right, everyone. Let¡¯s do this. We can prevent a lot of damage and possible losses if we all buy the bows and arrows. Are any of you against this?¡± No one raised their hands or nodded with their heads. That was probably going to end the stock of arrows in the fortress, but it wasn¡¯t a real problem. With some luck, they will give up on the arrows and let me use them instead. Everyone left the training grounds to buy the bows and arrows¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but be astonished by that. That should be something that they should do after deciding on a clear battle plan. It was too late to regret this, and I was planning to make the most out of this incursion, but I sure wasn¡¯t going to stick around with those guys. ¡®Seriously? They don¡¯t fear death enough to plan how they are going to fight in most possible scenarios?¡¯ I wondered if I was a scared cat for considering my plans carefully, or if they were just plain stupid. Maybe it was that kind of stuff. They believed that they would be able to accomplish anything as long as they stick together. The monsters aren¡¯t a real problem and those three guys only died because they were heavily outnumbered and caught off guard. It was all just a bunch of excuses for me, but maybe it was what they were thinking. I decided to leave and rest as much as possible to accomplish the most the next day. While I was in the hot bath, I realized something about myself. I¡¯m the type of person who thinks a lot and tries to read between the lines for some reason. Maybe it¡¯s because I¡¯ve always been alone. I don¡¯t know if all my guesses about these guys are right, but I can¡¯t shake the feeling they¡¯re not too far off the mark. It¡¯s like I¡¯ve developed this habit of trying to understand people better by picking up on little things, even when I¡¯m not entirely sure if my conclusions are accurate. Maybe I just do it because, well, I¡¯ve had to rely on my own thoughts and observations for so long. There¡¯s something about it that gives me a sense of control, even if I¡¯m only half sure of what¡¯s really going on. It¡¯s kind of frustrating, though. I¡¯m the only one here taking things seriously? Thinking about all the possible outcomes, and it feels like I¡¯m the only one who sees how important it is to plan properly. Maybe that¡¯s why I feel so alone in all of this, even when I¡¯m surrounded by people. ¡®I can¡¯t tell what mindset is the correct one for now. If results are everything, then we will need to wait and see who will be alive in the end.¡¯ Once I was done cleaning myself, I went to fill my belly as much as I could. The sun had yet to set, but I took my time since the restaurant was still empty. It took a long while before anyone began to show up. While I was thinking about that, I suddenly heard a voice. ¡°Hey, are you the only hunter of this round?¡± When I raised my head, I saw a middle-aged woman wearing an apron approaching. I always thought that the man that I saw delivering the food was the one who was making the food, but it seemed that his wife was doing the cooking here. She was a bit plump, and she had this motherly figure while having short blond hair and blue eyes, but she was looking at me with some serious gaze. ¡°I guess I am. How can I help you?¡± ¡°I heard about you from the guards. Aside from that guy leading the group, you seem one of the few who are taking things seriously here.¡± It seemed that the people of the fortress had their own information network as well. I didn¡¯t see the guards leaving their posts, but I didn¡¯t pay much attention to them either. Still, it was no surprise that they would change places now and then to rest and eat. Regardless, I waited for the old lady to make her point. ¡°If you guys are going to destroy the closest goblin camp, I need to ask you not to leave any of them to escape. Not even the goblin kids and women.¡± ¡°That was already the plan.¡± ¡°No, I mean it. Those guys probably won¡¯t take the risks of following the monsters to exterminate them if they think it is dangerous. You need to make sure of that.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything in response to that. That certainly wasn¡¯t my responsibility, so I just stayed silent. If I could help it, I wouldn¡¯t be ordered around. ¡°If you do that, I can give you a gem and a piece of information about another hunting ground that you can use alone.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear that it is common for the inhabitants of this fortress to ask prisoners for such tasks.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t common, but it isn¡¯t rare either. It usually takes some time, but it seems that you show a bit of promise. I want that because when people like you do a half-assed job, the goblins return and siege this place.¡± ¡°The fortress doesn¡¯t look like it had ever endured a siege or actually suffered one.¡± ¡°It happened several times and we repair everything since we can¡¯t allow sustained damage on the walls.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask the redhead and the other guards? Aren¡¯t they supposed to be a lot stronger than us?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have the manpower here to pull that off and the captain isn¡¯t here. Anyway, are you going to accept it or not?¡± ¡°Only if I have some sort of way to confirm that you will really pay what you promised.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Fair enough. Give me a moment.¡± The middle-aged lady left, leaving me with a moment of silence. As I waited there, I noticed her husband at the counter. His face was hard to read at first, but there was something about his expression, a kind of complexity. He was looking at me, his brows furrowed slightly, before he let out a long, tired sigh. It didn¡¯t seem like he was completely against what was happening, but there was something off about it. Maybe it was just me, but it felt like he didn¡¯t have much of a say in the matter, like he was going along with it for reasons I couldn¡¯t fully understand. Before I could dwell on it, the lady returned. She held a gem in her hand, its surface gleaming in the light. It was a red gem, and it looked powerful for some reason. Maybe it was because of the color that I felt that way. ¡°This gem can add the fire element to weapons or projectiles as long as you attach it to your quiver. The damage isn¡¯t all that great, but it can finish off the goblins as long as the arrowhead pierces them deeply, even without hitting a vital point. As you should know, they can become stronger the more you use them. Just remember that I will want this back if you fail to make sure that the goblins won¡¯t escape. I will know if they pull it off.¡± ¡°All right, I will do that. None of them will escape.¡± The lady left after nodding, convinced. I studied the gem for a while, but soon put it in my pocket. Using it on the quiver was the best option, but if I got another one like this, I probably could attach them to my knives and become a bit better at close range combat. Once I was done eating, I decided to leave the restaurant and then return to my room. I needed to rest as much as possible to remain in tip-top condition tomorrow. I was already planning to do my very best, but this time, I was going to pull 120% of my capabilities somehow, at least my excitement told me so. When morning came, I was fully ready for the battle and then headed to the southern gate at sunrise. We didn¡¯t mark a time to leave, but I could only assume that they wouldn¡¯t risk letting the fight last until sunset or beyond it. The goblins here weren¡¯t exactly nocturnal creatures, but they still would have the upper hand at such periods of time. I waited at the southern gate, my patience growing thin as the hours ticked by. I had already spent three hours standing around. No one showed up. My head began to ache, and the frustration that was building inside me made my blood boil. I didn¡¯t have high expectations of that group, but they still managed to let me down in a way I hadn¡¯t anticipated. The anger wasn¡¯t about the delay itself, it was the feeling of sheer incompetence that they showed. I was ready, prepared to give my all, and yet here I was, standing alone and wondering if they¡¯d ever bother to show up. Half an hour later, they started trickling in, one by one, but not many of them actually bothered to show up at all. The few that did seemed distracted, unfocused, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel the weight of disappointment. It was clear they weren¡¯t taking this seriously. How could they expect to win if they couldn¡¯t even muster the basic discipline to be ready when needed? Carlos showed up around nine and he greeted everyone. ¡°Sorry, Sean. We had planned to tell you that we were leaving mid-morning, but when we finished the preparations, it was already midnight, so we assumed that you were already sleeping.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything in response and Carlos could only show a wry smile while enduring my silent glare. It took another full hour before everyone had arrived. That made me wonder if everyone became stupid or they also lost their notion of time after losing their memories. I certainly didn¡¯t, but it was better not to use my own behavior as a basis for everything, given that I was only here for my own benefit. ¡°All right, everyone. We are moving. We can¡¯t surprise the enemies with these numbers during the day, so we will send a scouting party ahead to deal with the goblins that could alert the others about our approach. We need to be at least five hundred meters away before we are found out, so please, be careful and try not to make too much noise. Regulus, can you lead the scouting party? Naturally, I am going with you. How many mages do you think that we need to deal with the scouting goblins?¡± ¡°As many as possible as long as they can hit anything fifty meters away.¡± Carlos showed a complicated expression while looking at the mages. It didn¡¯t seem like they had those with good aim. At this point in time, I had given up on finding every single flaw in their group, but I couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by the fact that Carlos refused to tell them to shut up all the way to the enemy fortress. It seemed that he would need to be shaken up a bit in order for him to realize that some things needed to be done, no matter what. In the end, I was a bit surprised to see that Carlos actually had a mage in his group who could hit targets from the same distance as me. I asked for that kind of requirement just to be sure that no mage that can explode the back of my head would follow me, but it seemed that the requirement wasn¡¯t as harsh as expected. The mage was a short girl that had light brown hair and eyes. She probably was barely five feet tall, and since she had a young face that seemed even off thanks to her blank expression, I couldn¡¯t help but frown since I assumed that all the prisoners were adults. Everyone looked to be around twenty or thirty years old at max. I didn¡¯t feel older than twenty-five. ¡°Her name is Maya, and she is our best mage. She already saved the asses of a bunch of us, thanks to her accuracy.¡± The girl bowed slightly in my direction, and it made me frown. What kind of greeting was that? It felt unnatural to me. There was something about it that seemed... rehearsed, like she was going through the motions without fully understanding the act. But then again, I had a nagging feeling that this type of greeting was common to some people]. I couldn¡¯t be sure. I wasn¡¯t entirely convinced by Carlos¡¯s praise either. I had my doubts about whether he was exaggerating her abilities a bit too much. But as I looked at Maya again, I noticed she didn¡¯t shy away from meeting my gaze. That caught my attention. She either had guts or she lacked the common sense to be intimidated, and either way, it intrigued me. Was it courage, or was it something else entirely? It was hard to tell, but I had the sense that Maya was more than just the quiet, small mage she appeared to be on the surface. ¡°All right, let¡¯s get this over with.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you usually more cautious, Sean?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that we would dash ahead like mad men. Just follow the route that I lead and keep a distance of five meters. If I raise my hand while it is closed, you guys stop. If I open it, can you follow me while keeping a low posture? Got it?¡± ¡°Okay. You sure are meticulous.¡± I felt like sighing, but I couldn¡¯t help but think that I was in the wrong feeling like that. I didn¡¯t have to be short-fused, right? Regardless, we began to move. A few times, I turned around to check things and I could see the remaining members of the group around three hundred meters away. Even from this distance, I could see them very relaxed while maintaining no formation whatsoever and also chatting. When Carlos noticed that, he showed a wry smile. Before long, I raised my hand and then they stopped and lowered their stances even more. I didn¡¯t see anything around, but I could smell it. The smell of the goblins¡¯ clothes filled with sweat, dirt and some of piss. When I followed the scent, I found a hole covered in leaves. Sean gulped when he saw that anyone stepping on that would get their feet spiked by some nasty spikes. I found other traps like that and signaled their location by putting a branch of them that could be seen from a distance. Still, soon we found other problems¡­ Chapter 12 - Bloodbath ¡°Are they supposed to be scouting in large groups like this?¡± ¡°No, you can thank your other scouting party for that.¡± This time, Carlos didn¡¯t make a troubled expression since he didn¡¯t feel any malice in my words. It was a fact that the other party caused this to make the goblins wary. I suppose I was part of the blame too, since I killed fifty of them yesterday. I would never admit that I was a part of the problem, though. Since it was basically our job to hunt monsters to survive. In any case, the goblins were moving around the area in groups of ten, and I could see at least three groups like that. In the best-case scenario, considering the area, they would have six groups like this, and in the worst-case scenario, they would have nine groups like that. That didn¡¯t change things that much, given the numbers on both sides. However, their numbers would give enough time for the enemies on the fortress to ready themselves. ¡°What do you think we should do, Sean?¡± ¡°Silence them before the other groups realize our presence is impossible. We need to charge right straight in and dispose of as many enemies as possible before they can make all of their forces come at us. If they are smart enough, they might try to send their defenses on the fortress, but with mages on our side, I don¡¯t think that they will.¡± Carlos took a moment to consider my suggestion, his expression thoughtful as he weighed the risks and benefits. His eyes then moved toward Maya, who gave a small nod in response. Whether she was agreeing with the plan or simply acknowledging the discussion was hard to tell, but Carlos seemed to take it as a sign of support. He turned back to me, his features firm with resolve, and returned my nod. Without wasting any more time, he decided to retreat to where the rest of the group was waiting, ensuring they were all informed of our strategy. A coordinated attack would be necessary if we wanted to take advantage of the situation. Despite our best efforts to remain efficient, there was no denying that charging straight toward the enemy¡¯s fortress, which was still two kilometers away, would drain some of our stamina before the actual battle. Ideally, we would conserve our strength for the fight itself, but allowing the goblins to regroup or warn their forces was a greater risk. Speed was essential, and if we could take down as many enemies as possible before they organized themselves, the battle would be in our favor. However, there was always the possibility that we were underestimating them. If they had ways to signal the fortress faster than anticipated, we could end up running straight into a fully prepared defense. ¡°Can you snipe some of them from here? If you give me enough time, I can create an explosion that can blast their defenses?¡± ¡°Why would you want to do that now, of all times?¡± ¡°If they find only two enemies here, they might come at us instead of warning the others. The explosion will knock them down and the others won¡¯t know for sure what has happened.¡± Maya had a point, but I couldn¡¯t help but frown as to why she didn¡¯t follow Carlos and gave this idea when he just left. Did she want to lure me into some kind of trap? For all intentions and purposes, she shouldn¡¯t have much mana and her spells should consume a lot of it if she really could do that much. ¡°I will take responsibility for the plan if something happens. In any case, we need to move to the west side of the area. That way, the others won¡¯t be noticed until the last moment.¡± She had a point¡­ she looked like a kid, but she had a good head for this. That also made me wary given that I didn¡¯t hear that she gave such ideas before. ¡°All right, let¡¯s do this. Still, I will warn you. If you want to cause trouble to me, you better not miss your attacks. My arrow certainly won¡¯t.¡± Maya nodded and then we began to move toward the west side of the area. She followed my lead and soon we found ourselves between two groups of enemies. One that was one on our left side and another that was on the right side. They were walking from right to left, so we could see the back of one group while the other was heading straight at us. ¡°All right, I will start the attack. How much time do you need?¡± ¡°Five seconds.¡± ¡°Okay, blast them away when they are close enough, or we won¡¯t finish them off before the next group approaches¡­ By the way, do all the mages do that too?¡± ¡°No, I have a gem that can allow me to do that, thanks to my master.¡± It seemed that all the guild masters were weirdos who wanted to be called master. In any case, since she received a gem, she was probably the best mage that the guild master had taught in this round. That would explain a lot. Regardless, we didn¡¯t have time to waste anymore and soon I raised from the grass and then got ready to attack the goblins ahead. As soon as I felt my aim steady, I unleashed the first arrow, and the projectile pierced the back of the monster with ease. The arrow flew while emitting a red burning light that ignited upon impact like it was covered in oil. With a grunt, the creature fell forward and soon the monsters saw the body. Before they could turn around to see me, I fired another arrow, and another enemy was stuck in the back. The monsters found both of us and began to charge while snarling instead of shouting. In the next three seconds, three more of them were hit and fell on the ground, dead. At the same time, I felt the heat around me increasing exponentially. All of a sudden, a fireball passed above me and toward the enemies. It was not bigger than a human head, but when it hit the first enemy, it engulfed the creature in flames and then exploded. It didn¡¯t make any noise, but it engulfed an area of five meters in flames. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I had only expected the goblin directly hit by the fireball to die, but what happened next caught me off guard. While the first one was reduced to charcoal almost instantly, the others caught in the blast flailed on the ground, their bodies engulfed in flames. They writhed for a few seconds, their grunts fading as their movements slowed, and soon they stopped altogether. The fire hadn¡¯t just wounded them, it had burned them to death in mere moments. That kind of power wasn¡¯t normal for a typical mage, at least not one at her level. Watching the aftermath, I could only assume that Maya had specialized entirely in raw magic power. Most mages would balance their stats to use magic as often as possible, but she seemed to have gone all in on sheer destructive force. It explained why her fireball had such devastating effects, despite its small size. If she had other spells of similar intensity, then she was far more dangerous than I initially thought. She probably didn¡¯t. ¡°The others are coming.¡± Maya almost choked me while pulling my cloak while I was lost in thought. Soon I turned around and confirmed that the next group of goblins was getting in range¡­ it seemed that they didn¡¯t see the effects of the fireball yet. I didn¡¯t know how many of those she could use, so I had to be more steady when it comes to attacking. It would be a good idea to let her use her magic on the goblin boss, but that would make the challenge too easy, not a real challenge to me. Once again, I killed five of them before Maya had the chance to use her concentrated fireball, but the goblins were smart enough to jump away. Not a single one of them was hit by the attack, but three of them were engulfed by the flames. I finished off the two others that escaped with arrows, while the other three burned to death. I checked the area to confirm the results of the plan, and I could see Carlos and the others moving in our direction, but after I confirmed that the other groups still hadn¡¯t realized anything, I pointed to the gate of the fortress, the closest one. Carlos understood the message and soon made the group jog toward the gate. ¡°Let¡¯s approach the next group of scouts. How many more spells can you use?¡± ¡°Three of the same level.¡± ¡°Save them for when you truly need it.¡± I wanted to tell Maya to join the main group, but I decided to keep her around in case of an emergency. I felt a bit pathetic for thinking like that, but I also wanted to be sure that she shouldn¡¯t die so soon and would be able to use her magic freely under the best conditions to kill as many enemies as possible and I knew that I could make sure of that. We advanced faster than the main group, but as soon as we engaged the next group of scouts, the sound of metal echoing coming from the goblin fortress began to echo in the area. I didn¡¯t have time to check how far away the main group was, but I sure hoped that they were less than five hundred meters away from the fortress. Once more, the goblins fell by my arrows and seven of them were killed. Only when the final three were in the air and jumping toward us was when Maya unleashed her explosive fireball¡­ I wished that she had saved such an attack for a more difficult situation, but if she deemed that she was in danger, then it was her call. ¡°Let¡¯s join the main group.¡± Maya nodded in agreement, and without wasting any more time, we rushed to join the main group. I found our allies about three hundred meters from the fortress, advancing steadily. They had made good progress, but now the real battle was about to begin. At the same time, the goblins started pouring out of their stronghold, forming a defensive line in the open field. These goblins were moving in an organized manner, shields raised, their formation tight. Most of them carried crude wooden shields, clearly aware of our ranged attacks, and they weren¡¯t recklessly charging toward us. It seemed they had quickly grasped the situation. This wasn¡¯t just a skirmish; the entire human force had come for them, at least the ones that came recently. Even though they still outnumbered us five to one, they chose a more cautious approach instead of blindly throwing their numbers at us. Their decision made sense; if they rushed in and failed, they would expose their fortress to fireballs, and they weren¡¯t willing to take that risk. Instead, they positioned themselves defensively, preparing for a battle of attrition rather than an all-out assault. ¡®The shields seem a bit off¡­ did they put something on them against fireballs?¡¯ All the wooden shields were dark¡­ like it had been coated by some anti-flame materials. I couldn¡¯t help but squint my eyes when I saw that. At the same time, we finally reached the others, and I had to endure the gazes of a lot of people that wanted to blame me for the sudden surprise. ¡°Sean¡­¡± ¡°It was my idea to attack the groups of scouts.¡± It looked like Carlos was about to complain, but Maya readily declared that. It was hard to tell what she was thinking with that expression of hers, but at least it looked like she was willing to keep her word. Thanks to that, the atmosphere changed and the harsh expressions softened. ¡°We will talk about that later. Draw your bows and get ready to attack!¡± Pretty much everyone had bows with them, but the speed that they got ready to knock the arrows and aim was varied. I had no intention of complaining about that. They probably didn¡¯t have time to train with those weapons. Still, I was baffled when some people actually fired the arrows without receiving the order. ¡°Wait for my order to shoot!¡± Carlos raised his voice, but he was still keeping his cool as ever. Right now it wasn¡¯t the time to make anyone feel like a screw up, but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the guy would ever get angry or if he even felt allowed to do that. ¡°Fire!¡± We were one hundred meters away from the enemies¡­ and we couldn¡¯t allow them to finish their formations. Some arrows actually landed on the enemies, but most of the shields blocked them. Only around five of them were hit, while half of the arrows didn¡¯t even reach the enemies. ¡°Get ready for the second volley!¡± After fifteen more seconds, the second volley was fired, and the results improved a bit, but I couldn¡¯t see any goblins remaining on the ground. I wanted to fire arrows as well, but at this distance, my aim was still rough and I couldn¡¯t afford to waste mine when I didn¡¯t have time to recover any of those that I had used. ¡°They are moving! Fire at will! Use this, Sean. I don¡¯t have confidence in my aim.¡± Carlos handed me a quiver, and then he readied his sword and shield when the monsters began to charge. Chapter 13 - Target In the end, the group only had the chance to fire three arrows before the enemies began to charge. The reason for that was very simple¡­ that big goblin emerged from the fortress and he was oozing an aura of blood thirstiness. The creature charged toward us and that made me forget about all the monsters. While it was only a bit taller than an adult human, it was able to carry a thick club that should weigh tens of kilograms. The world went silent when I aimed at the head of the beast. I heard a buzzing in my ears, but then I truly heard nothing, only the sound of the arrow being unleashed. The projectile flew in the blink of an eye toward the head of the monster eighty meters away, but the creature easily blocked it with its club. A few flames spread around the weapon, but they soon dissipated without causing any real damage. Few people had the chance to see that, but they noticed the reaction speed of the monster and realized that it was no joke. I didn¡¯t mind that, when the first arrow landed, I was already nocking the other and soon launched a barrage of them toward the enemy. The goblin boss deflected every arrow with effortless precision, its thick club moving in wide, sweeping arcs that sent faint embers flickering through the air. No matter the angle of my shots or the speed at which I fired them, the monster met each one with inhuman reflexes. It was as if it could see the trajectory before I even released the string. The sheer force behind my arrows should have at least staggered an ordinary opponent, yet this creature stood firm. A deep pit formed in my stomach, but it wasn¡¯t fear. It was something far more thrilling. Then, amidst the storm of arrows, our eyes met. A primal fury burned within the goblin¡¯s gaze, a silent promise of anger that sent a shiver down my spine. It wasn¡¯t just angry; it was enraged that I had dared to challenge it. But instead of looking away, I held its stare, my fingers instinctively tightening around my bowstring. My heart pounded, not with dread, but with excitement. A slow, unbidden grin stretched across my face. This was no ordinary fight, no simple clash of weapons. This was a battle against a monster that demanded everything I had. And I was more than willing to give it. The boss goblin soon charged again, but stopped in the middle of the way when one of my arrows grazed its ears. It had amazing reaction speed, but it wasn¡¯t enough to block an arrow that flew as fast as the sound. ¡°... Kill them all!¡± The goblin boss pointed its club toward us and the goblins dashed while shouting. The sound of their voices was deafening, and it made me feel like the forest was shaking. Still, we were ready for that. ¡°Mages! Use your fireballs! Warriors! Follow me!¡± As if he was following the script of a fantasy film, Carlos shouted that and began to charge toward the enemies. He seemed insane, but I had to give credit to where it was due. We were outnumbered, but he still stirred the frontline that much and they didn¡¯t hesitate in following him. Everyone dropped their bows and the quivers and got ready for the bloodbath. It made me wonder how Carlos would make them fall back if things get dicey. However, it seemed that I was the one who lacked vision. As someone who had always fought solo, I had never truly grasped what a coordinated group of mages could do. Magic of that scale wasn¡¯t something I had witnessed before. The moment Carlos gave the order, thirty fireballs soared through the air, their bright orange glow illuminating the battlefield for an instant before they crashed into the enemy ranks. There was no waste, no stray shots. Every single fireball found a target, engulfing goblins in searing flames. Their agonized shrieks filled the air as they flailed, their bodies consumed by the blaze. I had expected some of them to survive, to roll and smother the fire, but the sheer intensity of the flames made escape impossible for many. More than that, the fire spread. Patches of grass and wooden shields ignited, creating a momentary wall of flame that forced the goblins behind them to halt. At least sixty of them were stopped, their charge breaking for just a couple of seconds as they suffered from the sudden inferno. But in battle, seconds were everything. That brief pause was all the frontline needed. Without missing a beat, Carlos and the warriors pushed forward, hacking down the burning enemies or using their hesitation to strike deep into their ranks. What had been a charging horde just moments ago had turned into a battlefield littered with scorched bodies and severed limbs. The boss of the goblins clinched its teeth in anger and then jumped to the middle of the battlefield. For a moment, he disappeared into the foliage of the trees, but soon he began to land, but my arrows were already ready to meet him. When he landed, he protected his head with his arm and his heart with his club. Thanks to that, an arrow pierced his left forearm a bit and made it burn, but not that much. A level one gem was that weak¡­ The arrow only pierced a couple of centimeters on the monster, but at least I stopped the monster from getting on the battlefield and hitting everyone with that massive club. The mages used that chance to target the creature again instead of decreasing the number of the goblins and unleashed a barrage of fireballs at it. Some collided against each other and exploded in the air, but most of them still flew toward the beast. However, they dispersed in the air when the monster swung its club and then the blast of wind extinguished them. For a moment, the whole battlefield went silent. Only the sound of my arrows and the sound of goblins dashing to attack the frontline echoed. Until Carlos raised his voice. ¡°Attack its minions! I will handle this one.¡± I wanted to claim that the boss was mine since the creature had a gem on the handle of its club, but I couldn¡¯t be that shameless since I was attacking from a distance. Still, a familiar fireball flew toward the monster¡­ the creature tried to extinguish it, but it opened its eyes wide when it saw that its technique didn¡¯t work. The explosion that hit the enemy made the creature stagger and disappear for a moment. Maya sighed in relief since she didn¡¯t miss or made the explosion hit her allies. Still, she gulped when she saw the monster emerge almost unscathed. Raising the club to block the attack wasn¡¯t an option, but the beast blocked with its arm. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Since it uses the right hand to swing the club, it doesn¡¯t mind using its left hand like that, huh? If you don¡¯t want that arm, then I will take it.¡¯ I took a deep breath and steadied my aim, pushing everything else out of my mind. For the first time, I fully committed to charging Power Shot, feeling the skill¡¯s effect building up as I held my draw. The strain came immediately. My muscles tensed, and I could feel my stamina draining with every passing second. The longer I held, the heavier my bow felt, as if the very air around me was pressing down, testing my strength. By the final moment, a sharp pain flared in my right arm, my fingers trembling under the immense pressure. Every instinct screamed at me to release, to let go before I lost control, but I held on, pushing past the discomfort. Then, with a single exhale, I let the arrow fly. It tore through the air like a bolt of lightning, faster and deadlier than any shot I had ever fired before. The monster saw me and raised its arm to protect its head once again, but the arrow hit its left shoulder deeper than before. The beast opened its eyes in shock and then looked at the arrow and at me, already nocking another one. Without hesitation, it began to charge in my direction and ignored the battle around, but soon it was stopped by Carlos who got on its path. The eyes of the beast became bloodshot thanks to the rage, and soon swung down its club at Carlor who raised his shield. Even from a distance, I was able to hear the sound of flesh and bone being smashed, followed by the sound of a shield breaking apart. Carlos immediately dropped to his knees while the mind-numbing pain spread to the rest of his body. In the next moment, he expected a following attack, but he only heard the sound of a fireball echoing in the area and then the heat increased. Amidst the smoke that appeared, he saw a single arrow flying and crossing through it¡­ he had no idea why anyone was still firing an arrow without seeing the enemy, but soon when the smoke dispersed, he saw the beast with an arrow on its left eye. Without hesitation, the monster pulled the arrow and a lot of blood gushed from the wound. I fired other arrows at the beast, but the monster protected its head and heart with the club. It couldn¡¯t see me anymore, but it was fine to assume a total defensive stance. All of a sudden, the monster noticed that the arrows stopped coming and then lowered its weapon a bit before noticing that I was no longer where I was supposed to be. The creature who was ready to kick Carlos and charge in suddenly hesitated and looked around in confusion, looking for its prey. After a couple of seconds, it assumed that I had run away and then got ready to swing down its club at Carlos and smash his head. However, several warriors stepped forward and got ready to defend Carlos. The monster swung its club with all its might and knocked down five of the weight warriors and also broke their shields¡­ despite being wounded, it didn¡¯t lose any strength. Perhaps it actually gained some thanks to the adrenaline and anger. While the warriors were groaning on the ground, the monster got ready to step on their heads, but another powerful fireball hit the enemy, or so it tried¡­ the monster was wary of Maya¡¯s attack and raised its club to block it when it saw another explosive fireball coming from the same direction. Maya trembled a bit when she locked her eyes with the monster as the smoke dissipated. Now she became the target of the enraged beast. However, it was only for a moment. The beast suddenly stopped in its tracks and then trembled. When everyone blinked thanks to the surprise, they saw the monster falling with an arrow on its left ear. It fell with a large thud. ¡®Done and dusted.¡¯ Call me a coward, I couldn¡¯t care less. I disappeared on the grass and in the middle of the chaotic battlefield I approached silently the left side of the monster. It never saw the grass moving as I got closer. I emerged from the tall grass and smiled in satisfaction. At the same time, Carlos got up and nodded at me. ¡°Their leader is dead! We can do this!¡± ¡°WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± Everyone shouted in excitement, but only because they didn¡¯t realize what had already happened. I unleashed my next arrows on the enemies that were busy with the frontline and with each arrow shot, an enemy was taken down. Before long, I had used all my arrows, but Maya showed up carrying some quivers. She had spent all of her mana already, but she still wanted to contribute like this. Despite that, her face was pale as a ghost. I nodded at Maya, acknowledging her effort, and without missing a beat, I returned to my focus. My bow never stopped, each arrow finding its mark on the advancing goblins. The battlefield had turned into a chaotic symphony of noise, shouts, battle cries, the clash of steel, and the occasional roar of the goblin boss. But through it all, I kept my eyes trained on the enemies that mattered most. Soon, I noticed a new wave of opponents emerging from the edges of the battlefield, goblin women, appearing with bows and arrows in hand. They were clearly ready to join the fray. I wasn¡¯t about to let them interfere, not while they had ranged weapons that could disrupt the momentum we had. With swift change, I targeted them, one by one. My arrows flew, each one striking true, taking down the goblin women before they could nock an arrow. However, amidst the chaos, I spotted something that shifted my priorities. On the other side of the goblin fortress, a small group of goblins, mostly women and children, were trying to escape. Their movements were frantic, desperate. I couldn¡¯t let them slip away, not with the resources they could potentially bring back to their forces. They had their own arrows, too. I couldn¡¯t afford to let those escape. ¡®Shit¡­¡¯ For a moment, I hesitated. This was going to leave one hell of a bad taste in my mouth. Still, it was my job not to let a single one of them escape¡­ However, my hesitation vanished when I took a good look at the bodies of humans rotting on the stakes on the sides of the gate. ¡°Return to the others. I am going to stop those who are trying to run away.¡± Maya looked at the fortress and then nodded after showing a complicated expression. As expected, even she could show that much expression after realizing that I had to do something truly fucked up. The reinforcements saw me approaching and soon changed their focus to me. Still, I ignored them, pointing their arrows at me as I slung my bow on my back and then grabbed my knives. One after the other, they began to unleash their arrows, but I zigzagged on the battlefield and rolled on the ground before finally reaching them. Without hesitation, I began to stab them¡­ they didn¡¯t have time to nock other arrows, but two of them still held the shots back until the last moment and pierced my stomach and left arm with their arrows. The sharp pain made me flinch for a moment, but I immediately was able to tell that they didn¡¯t hit muscles or any vital organs. They weren¡¯t part of the main force of goblins, after all. So, their attacks were half-assed at best¡­ that didn¡¯t stop me from slashing their throats.