It was getting dark when I finally found traces of a group of gobus. The trees were marked crudely. The gobus are definitely armed with weaponry.
Footprints similar to Gobutaro are also visible on the ground.
Judging by the number of footprints, they are numbered around 6.
"They must've split up to search for me" I assumed confidently.
A search party will need to gather up and report to their commander. The goblins, albeit stupid, functions better as a group with a commander leading them.
I checked the time remaining on the main menu.
<43 hours: 19 minutes: 03 seconds>
I followed their tracks, and after few hours of tracking, I guessed where they are headed.
After I climbed up a tall tree and sure enough, about a few hundred meters away, I found multiple campfires close to each other.
That's definitely the army camp of the gobus sent after me.
Ironically, I'm now the one hunting them, not the other way around.
After formulating a strategy to confront them, I reluctantly wore the
But It's better to hide my scent and presence against the enemy. The key to this quest will be my stealthiness to assassinate them.
I approached their encampment silently. Slowly and sneakily... Alerting them will lead to my death.
A safe distance away from their encampment, I hid behind the plants and calmly observed their surroundings.
The surrounding trees around their encampment have been cut down. Poorly made barricades made out of wood barely surrounded them.
As expected... They have a very bad disposition towards defense.
Well, since I never encountered or found traces of another living being within the trial grounds other than the Gobus, I'd feel the same way.
They must have thought that my little existence is of no threat.
After a series of observation, I concluded that they have around 10 gobus at around 3 feet patrolling the perimeter at a certain interval.
Then, I started my plan to eliminate them!
I memorized the places they would eventually patrol. The condition of this assault must be swift and deadly!
I must kill them one by one without alerting the other gobus.
I readied my tree vines, readied my bow and arrow, and sneakily aimed at the gobu's head.
As if walking in its backyard, the gobu was not on its guard as expected.
This gobu definitely don't know why he's patrolling.
I let go of the string and the nock, and the arrow flew swiftly.
Fwiw!
The arrow traveled through the air is nice and quiet. The sound created by the bowstring is considered to be minuscule. This is the weapon to assassinate targets from afar!
As soon as the arrow left the bow, I didn't wait for it to land on the gobu. I immediately used dashed towards the gobu's position.
My arrow landed on its left eye, and without giving it time to utter noise, I tied up its mouth with tree vines, slit its throat, and snatched him away from the patrol area.
It will take a little bit of time to kill one gobu, hence killing them away from the encampment is the safest.
Within the woods, the sight of me stabbing the gobu's vital areas mercilessly created a scene of a murder.
The number of goblins as the system mentioned shocked me.
They actually sent this much after me! And for some reason, their number was reduced this much. Did they encounter another monster?
I shrugged and threw the topic at the back of my head.
Their numbers are huge, however, great risk comes great rewards. I could only imagine myself getting stronger if I slay all gobus.
I repositioned to kill another gobu. This time, I hid in a certain spot. I waited for the next gobu to come, and tied up its mouth and snatched him away from the place.
Following my strategy, I killed the next target swiftly.
After doing it a few more times, the killing speed grew faster.
Eventually, I killed all 10 patrols without any problem.
I also gained a level making me Level 8.
Allocating my stats now would be a waste. I have not yet decided which stat I should focus. But since my attack power is decent for now, I'll save the stats for the future.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Hence, I relied on my current stats to overwhelm the gobus.
The second phase of my plan must commence. Since the gobu patrollers are dead, I approached the nearest gobu tent and created a peep-hole using my dagger to take a look.
There are 6 gobu within.
And sure enough, the gobus are taking a nap!
'These lazy gobus! Do they think they're on vacation or something?'
Even though they don't need to sleep inside the Trial Grounds, they're peacefully taking a nap.
Provoked by their actions, I held my dagger tightly and approached to kill.
I approached the weakest looking gobu first.
I only need 3 critical hits to kill this thing. I covered its mouth with my left hand and fiercely stabbed its heart three times.
Stab! Stab!! Stab!!!
3 successive critical strikes! The sleeping gobu didn't even have the chance to make noise as it died silently.
I proceeded to the next, and killed it as planned.
After killing the gobus within this tent, I leveled up once, I'm now level 9.
Sure enough, the gobu security within their territory is much worse. I only saw about 2 or 3 gobus patrolling.
Without any problem, I managed to kill my way from tent to tent.
Some tents have gobus awake, but they were mercilessly killed by me. I'm level 9, and they were below lv 10.
**
I leveled up once more after clearing more tents. After I scanned the surroundings to find more, I saw a bigger, and fancier tent.
It must be the Hobgobu's tent. Around its entrance, there at 4 gobus asleep.
The lax security truly made this quest too easy! I smiled coldly as I proceeded to the other gobu tent.
Finally, it's the time for the main dish. After I killed all gobus within the other tents, I gained 3 more levels, I am now level 13.
I walked silently towards the sleeping 4 gobus. However, contrary to my expectations, the 4 of them woke up as I approached a certain distance.
They stood up with great hostility in their eyes. They held their hatchets tightly, ready to fight.
< Gobu Lv 14 HP 440/440>
I was flabbergasted by their levels.
The gobus I have slain were all below level 11. Apparently, these are the best gobu in their army.
Our levels and stats are about the same. Fighting head-on will only alert the Hobgobu inside the tent, which will only make the matters worse.
Without wasting a single second, I unhesitatingly ran to the woods.
Dragging them away from the Hobgobu is the only solution.
After seeing me turn tail and flee, the gobu's laughed. Since they have nothing to do, they decided to kill me for fun!
Did they even realize who they are fighting with?
As I ran, I jumped up as high as I could. I pulled an arrow from my quiver prepared to attack the chasing gobu from behind. This method is famously known as 'kiting' in games.
I attacked the Lv 12 gobu first with my bow & arrow.
Fwiw!
I clicked my tongue in disappointment. It truly is hard to 'kite'. My accuracy massively dropped, but I could still manage to keep the distance between us. This is still manageable.
I attacked once more and finally landed a hit.
<68!>
Although it wasn't a critical hit, the damage was still decent.
I haven't allocated my free stats yet, but my damage still is satisfying.
With this, I only need to land several hits to kill one of them.
Taking advantage of the topography, I nimbly kited the chasing gobus.
A few minutes, I successfully killed the level 12 Gobu.
Seeing their friend die, the gobus roared in rage. The Lv 14 Gobu threw his hatchet to me. I was caught off-guard and the attack landed on my back.
<105!>
'Shit!' I cursed inwardly.
I felt excruciating pain, but strangely, the pain immediately subsided, as if I didn't get hurt at all.
This must be the work of the 'System'.
I continued to kite the gobus chasing me. From time to time, the gobus would throw their hatchets to me.
Although it's easy to dodge them, some still landed, thus they dealt significant damage to my HP.
Although I triggered Blood Thirst buff, healing my body by a small amount. It was only enough to sustain the damages and barely keep me alive.
The damage trades eventually ceased as only one gobu was left.
It's a 1v1 battle against the Lv 14 Gobu. My hp plummeted around 5%. Against the full HP Gobu, my chance of dying is extremely high.
The Lv 14 Gobu has around 5 feet of height. Since it's on the verge of evolving, it's physique grew close to a Hobgobu.
After a few minutes of kiting, I have adapted to the gobu's attack.
With just 1 gobu attacking me, I could easily dodge the flying hatchet.
After I successfully dodge the hatchet, I would always run towards the hatchet's direction, hence continuing the 'kiting'.
This strategy will urge the gobu to keep on chasing me.
But suddenly, the Gobu abruptly stopped chasing me.
Seeing him come to a full stop, my kiting strategy was nullified. What a clever gobu!
I also stopped and stood still. My expression turned better and I grimly smiled.
This is all according to the plan. I'll kite the gobus, but if there's a small chance of them fleeing, I'll chase them down!
As expected, the gobu became wary of me.
Since I murdered all of its friends, the Lv 14 Gobu became more cautious.
The gobu bent its body slightly, its hatchet tightly grasped.
And just as expected, it ran away! It's going to ask for Hobgobu's help!
With a burst of speed, I hurriedly chased after it.
The running gobu issued a continuous cry of help as it ran desperately.
This is not good, if it managed to attract the Hobgobu's attention, things would go south.
Unwilling for the worst-case scenario, I chased with all my might, and I caught up to him and started my assault!
The roles have been reversed! I attacked the gobu ceaselessly.
Gobu Lv 14 desperately dodged my attacks, however, it couldn't dodge all of it. It continuously cried for help miserably. This is the result when you underestimate your enemy!
<39!>
<44!>
..
Its hp rapidly plummeted. With a pitiful cry, it died tragically.
My super low hp instantly recovered to full.
"Hahaha! You fools dared to chase me!? Too green!!" I laughed heartily. Admiring my genius.
And now for the main dish.
When a Gobu reaches level 15, it will evolve into Hobgobu. Its stats will triple and will gain a 'skill'. Assuming that the Hobgobu gained an offensive skill, I'll need to tinker my plans a bit more.
It's the middle of the night, and the Hobgobu at its tent.
I hurriedly went back to the encampment. What if the Hobgobu found out that I killed all the gobus?
I better go back and find out the Hobgobu's stats so I can plan for a strategy.
**
Race: Human Blessing: Title: The First To Arrive! Class: *In the process of acquiring class* Affiliation: None HP: 520/520 MP: 95/95 Exp: 2% Attack Power: 80 Defense: 33 Attack Speed: 0.85 attacks per second Critical Hit Chance: 0.5% Critical Hit Damage: 150% Accuracy to unmoving targets: 100.5% 'MISS' Chance when an attack lands to you: 0.5% Movement Speed: 75 Strength (STR): 12 Constitution (CON): 12 Dexterity (DEX): 12 Intelligence (INT): 10 Wisdom (WIS): 12 Charisma (CHA): 10 Luck (LCK): -666 *Can not allocate points* Free Stat Points: 80 (+5 upon leveling) *See Detailed Stats Info>* Skills: (Passive) Battle Trance - Beginner Lv 1 -The finest art of the raging demons. Increases attack speed upon successive attacks! Attack Speed: +1% per stack (up to 100 times) Stacks of Battle Trance lasts for 20 seconds. Upon reaching 100 stacks, gain "Blood Thirst" buff for 10 seconds. Blood Thirst: -Heals 10% of your damage dealt -Increases Attack Speed by 100% Battle Trance stacks will reset after 'Blood Thirst' duration ends. (Reach 100 stacks to gain 1 point: 2/200 to Level 2)> Astra Vorn Andromeda is the son of Duke Andromeda but was later disowned and exiled because he was accused of being a 'fake' blessed. The disgrace he had brought resulted in him being hated by everyone. He is now living as a lowly commoner. He has murdered a lot of goblins.>