Deep in the forest outside of Kerman city existed a small encampment created by goblins. Originally spread throughout the forest, not posing much of a threat, they had gathered under the banner of a leader. Their leader was a goblin shaman who was believed to be around level 18.
‘Or at least that's what the description says.’
Sol was currently hiding in the branches of a tree, using the vantage point to look over the small encampment. The goblins were surprisingly decent at building simple structures, as their camp was surrounded by a fence with tall trees being used as lookout towers. Inside the camp, Sol saw a few simple huts and one which was twice the size of the others.
‘That one should be the shaman’s.’
While Sol could burst into the camp, killing all goblins on the side, he learned from his previous experience with the kobolds to never underestimate a quest. Things could always go sideways with unexpected variables, so he planned to watch the camp until he saw the shaman and used [Analysis] on him.
Name: Werble
Race: Goblin
Talents: [Water Affinity], [Rituals]
Level: 19
HP: 150
MP: 350
Str: 10
Vit: 15
Agi: 20
Int: 25
Wis: 30 (+5)
Talent Skills:
[Aqua’s Protection] Lv 3, [Healing Ritual] Lv 1
Passive Skills:
[Quick Cast] Lv 2, [Increased Mana Regen] Lv 3, [Leadership] Lv 1, [Wisdom Up] Lv 1
Active Skills:
[Basic Water Magic] Lv 6, [Basic Rituals] Lv 2
‘It’s not strong; if I can surprise attack it before it can cast any spells, it will die in one hit.’
Looking around for the best area to sneak in, Sol made his way through the back of the camp with [Silent Steps].
‘Once I take out the shaman, all the other goblins will be lightwork.’
Sneaking through the back of the encampment, Sol tried to do it as quietly as possible, but there were moments he had to silence goblins who were in the way. The most problematic goblin was one who was up in a tree keeping lookout. Sol had to use [Basic Throwing] to throw a rock to knock it down from the tree and [Sprint] to run up and quickly finish him off.
‘I should buy something to deal damage from a distance; I don't want to make noise casting spells. Maybe knives or a bow would work.’
After quickly using [Siphon], Sol proceeded to sneak into the largest hut. He saw no one was currently inside and looked for a good hiding spot. With a lack of furniture, it made it hard to find a good place to hide. Luckily while looking around, Sol noticed the roof of the hut had a support beam he could fit in if he squeezed himself.
Getting up the beam, Sol got in position. All that was left was to wait until the shaman decided to go back to his home to rest. Unfortunately for Sol, after waiting for over an hour, he regretted choosing this spot.
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‘Damn, this is way more uncomfortable than I thought.’
Having to stay there for an extended period, his body got a sore, but luckily not long after thinking that, a figure made its way into the hut. It was the goblin shaman; it walked towards one of the fur rugs on the ground and lifted it, seemingly looking for something.
‘This is my chance!’
Dropping from the support, Sol fell on the shaman and with a sword in hand used [Cross Slash].
“Gree?!”
Against Sol’s expectations, the shaman survived. The moment his sword was about to end the shaman, a veil of water protected him at the last moment and shattered. Not too surprised since Sol saw his status beforehand, he immediately followed up with another [Cross Slash].
You have slain a Lv 19 Goblin! Gained 300 Exp.
Confirming its death, Sol then left to clear out the rest of the camp. The sounds of goblins dying filled the air for the next half hour.
“Heuman!”
“Arghh!”
“Ree!”
Eventually, Sol cleared them all, and silence returned to the forest. After sheathing his sword, Sol wiped his brow.
“Phew, that was pretty easy. They didn't know what to do once I killed their leader.”
Once done, he then proceeded to use [Siphon] on all the bodies. There were almost a hundred goblins in the camp, and likely because of having a leader to guide them, the quality of skill was higher than random goblins in the forest.
Many skills leveled up, but the two most important that leveled up were [Intermediate Swordsmanship] and [Siphon].
[Intermediate Swordsmanship] Lv 4: Increases sword damage by 140%.
[Siphon] Lv 3: Siphon 2 skills from dead beings. Increased efficiency, lowers the longer they are dead.
‘It took much longer to raise my swordsmanship by only siphoning the basic version of the skill. If I am correct, the amount needed to increase its level by one takes 10 times more effort. Siphon also changed, but sadly it didn't increase the number of skills, though it seems I am no longer limited by the time of death.’
Compared to the level 3 version of the skill, [Siphon] did not seem to have changed much, but it no longer required the bodies to be recent. Another thing that Sol almost missed was that it can be used on multiple bodies at a time. The bodies still needed to be close, around 10 meters, but it made siphoning bodies much faster and easier.
Once done with all the normal goblins, Sol made his way back to the hut of the goblin shaman and siphoned him too. Between the four options available, Sol decidedly chose [Basic Water Magic] for the first one, but the second one was a bit harder to choose. He didn't need [Quick Cast] as it wouldn’t be enough to level it up, but he was very curious at what [Basic Rituals] could do. In the end, he decided to pick a skill he was really lacking, which was [Increased Mana Regeneration], as it would allow him to use not only magic but skills that cost mana like [Cross Slash] more often.
Finished with the shaman, Sol was just about done with the camp but remembered the shaman looking for something in the hut before attacking him. Looking under the fur rug, he found a dug-out hole with a small box inside. Opening the box, he found a leather-bound book and a small idol. On reading the cover, Sol realized it is an introductory book on water magic. From the spells he learned from the shaman, it seemed they only got halfway through the book. If Sol wished to learn the rest of the spells, he would have to use [Siphon] on someone who knew the rest of the spells or start reading himself. Either option didn't bother Sol as he could study in his free time.
Regarding the small idol, Sol wasn't sure what to make of it. It looked like a goblin except much taller. It was wearing a crown and a cape, making it look rather regal for a goblin. Using [Analysis] on it just returned a bunch of question marks giving him no real answers.
‘Maybe I need to level up [Analysis]?’
Until Sol leveled up [Analysis] he wouldn't know what it was meant to be, so for now, he put it away in his backpack.
Sol looked through the goblin camp one more time, trying to see if he missed anything of note. It was a wasted endeavor as Sol didn’t find anything else of interest, but that didn’t bother him. The book itself is already valuable as he can sell that for at least 20 gold, so he has no complaints.
Having nothing more to do here, Sol headed back to the city to turn in the quest.