(So, this is the Hobgoblin’s lair, huh?)

After tailing it for a while, the Hobgoblin arrived at a certain cave.

The cave lay beneath a tall cliff, with two heavily armed Hobgoblins standing at its entrance.

Were they acting as guards?

The guards looked wary when they saw the Hobgoblin return alone.

However, after hearing its explanation, they easily let it through.

(Even guards, huh...)

I had planned to charge in head-on, but with guards watching, that’s a bit hard to pull off mentally.

With my size and abilities, sneaking around is limited, but I’ll try as much as I can.

(Operation start.)

For now, I moved back to create some distance.

Flattening myself, I began to move along the side.

Sneak, sneak, sneak.

Using Stealth, I wasn’t easily detectable.

Once I was far enough from the guards, I approached the cliff.

I extended my whip-like appendage to the nearest crevices and applied a bit of force.

(Alright, the surface is solid. Probably.)

After confirming, I latched onto the cliff.

To distribute my weight, I made my body as flat as possible.

(Let’s do this, Climbing!)

Hoping my long-used skill wouldn’t fail me, I carefully climbed.

Grabbing onto protrusions or, when none were available, sharpening parts of my body like spear tips to dig into the rock.

(Phew… Made it to the top…)

Reaching the open area above the cliff, I felt like sprawling out, but quickly returned to my cube-like form.

This shape is the most stable and relaxing for me.

(Time to make my move.)

After a short rest, I dangled my whip down to observe the situation below.

Then, I climbed to the spot directly above the guards, tied my whip to a nearby rock as a safety line, and slowly descended.

Whether Stealth could completely mask my Mana was a gamble.

I stayed ready to respond if detected, but no accidents occurred as I approached. I was now about three meters away.

Unhooking the safety line, I jumped down.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Immediately, I spread my body wide to engulf the two guards.

Squelch!

The sound of splattering fluids echoed, and a red stain spread beneath me.

I had also activated Plummet Strike to accelerate my descent, which delivered significant power.

I made sure to land softly to muffle the sound; otherwise, it could’ve been much louder.

...

Aresnal Armory Slimehas acquired the skill Ambush.

Acquired the skill Landing.

...

Absorbing the guards, I stored their equipment in Weapon Storage and turned toward the cave.

A short descent brought me into complete darkness, so deep it felt like I was falling into an abyss.

The passage was too narrow for two of me to walk side by side.

Though it wasn’t tight enough to restrict me, it was still somewhat cramped.

Well, I can always reshape myself to fit.

(Still, wouldn’t this be inconvenient for the Hobgoblins?)

Looking into the pitch-black darkness, I thought as much.

Perhaps goblin-type monsters have natural night vision or a skill for it.

Unfortunately, I lacked such an ability, so I took countermeasures.

I decided trying to acquire a skill for it could wait for another time.

(Activate: Lightning Strike - Weak.)

I used a low-power version of my Unique Skill.

A thin bolt of lightning extended from my body to the ceiling, slightly illuminating the cave.

(Let’s go!)

With that, I rushed into the cave, heading deeper at a brisk pace.

Even at reduced output, I was still consuming Mana, so I couldn’t waste time.

Through repeated evolution, I had learned Mana Reserve, allowing me to hold 825/900 Mana.

Still, my reserves were gradually depleting, so I wanted to resolve this quickly.

After a bit of walking, I noticed a small room-like space off to the side.

Peeking in, I saw a few Hobgoblins lounging around.

(Thrust!)

“Gyaaah!”

Before they could react to the lightning, I used a spear-like attack on the one furthest left.

Though new to me, Thrust worked perfectly in this confined space.

As the first Hobgoblin screamed its death cry, I morphed the spear into a whip-sword and swung sideways.

(Slash!)

“Gyaaagh!”

Nearly half the Hobgoblins were sliced open, while the rest were pinned against the wall.

Some weren’t fatally wounded due to their positions, but most were gravely injured.

It didn’t take long before the Hobgoblins in the room were wiped out.

(This room looks like... a temporary storage area?)

Looking around, I saw random monster parts and weapons scattered about.

Some Hobgoblins had been snacking on meat, supporting my guess.

Avoiding the human heads as much as possible,

I stored every weapon into Weapon Storage before leaving the room.

(Here they come.)

The screams of the room’s Hobgoblins must’ve been heard.

Reinforcements appeared from deeper inside.

They didn’t stop at just two or three.

The reinforcements kept pouring out of the darkness.

“Rahh!”

I activated Throwing, hurling stored weapons with force, skewering two Hobgoblins at once.

(It’s nice that summoning weapons takes almost no time.)

I kept throwing more weapons to push them back, though it wasn’t enough to eliminate their numbers entirely.

(I’ll save my two strongest skills… but how should I handle the rest?)

Then, inspiration struck.

This would let me efficiently move and attack at the same time.

I reshaped my body into a sphere.

“Charge!”

I hurled myself forward with great force.

My round body rolled rapidly downhill, crushing everything in its path.

“Gyaaagh!”

(Aaahhh!)

The sensation of spinning rapidly in the dark made me dizzy, but I pressed on.

“Salaltatat!!!!!!!”