…

..

.

After a minute of waiting in silence for Zack to continue talking about his plan, Ryu and Kenzo looked into each other's eyes for a moment and asked:

“Hmm, what's the rest of the plan?"

"That's all!" Zack replied.

“THAT IS NOT A PLAN AND IT IS NOTHING!!”

Veins popped in Ryu's head upon hearing the stupid thing Zack had said:

“We can't stay here forever! We don't have enough provisions to stay here for several days. What's worse is that if a guard dares to attack us, the rest are most likely in cahoots with him, and our friends in danger. We need a plan"

"If we stay here, it's likely that whoever comes looking for us won´t have the best intentions” Ryu concluded huffing, as if a weight had been lifted from him. Obviously, this situation had put him under a lot of stress.

Zack calmly listened to Ryu's complaints without saying anything. Once he finished, Zack raised his hand and pointed at the monster.

"Ryu, do you know what kind of monster that is?"

"Hmm. I don't know, he hasn't taught us anything about monsters” he replied, perplexed by the question.

"It's a goblin" Zack replied with a neutral expression on his face.

"A goblin?"

Zack nodded.

"It doesn't look like a goblin. Are there really goblins in this world?" Ryu asked as he took a fresh look at the two-meter muscled monster standing a few feet away.

"Not really. The reason why people call them goblins, or rather the reason why we call them goblins, is because of the skill we acquired after coming to this world.”

His companions knew what skill he was referring to. The only skill all summoned heroes share is Universal Translation.

“I have been observing how this ability works and I have discovered a couple of details”

The Universal Translation skill allows you to speak to the people here as if people were speaking to you in your native language. Thanks to this ability, Zack has been able to roam the library without problems during his stay in the palace. It is impossible that he did not have the slightest curiosity about it.

“And how does it work?” Kenzo asked, waiting for Zack to explain. However, Zack's response surprised them.

"Not important"

"What you have to know is that this ability helps us to understand languages of this world" Zack said as he tried to redirect the conversation towards his initial goal.

Although he had been explaining a few things to them, that doesn't mean he's a dictionary. If they want to know more, they can go to the central library. Nobody will stop them from entering.

Right now, there are more important things to worry about.

"However, this skill is not perfect"

“As you know, goblins are fictional creatures from our world. They don't exist, not here, not anywhere" Kenzo and Ryu nodded.

“The Universal Translator skill uses the most accurate word in our vocabulary to be used as a translation. However due lack of accurate words to describe this monster, and to certain overlapping characteristics between these creatures, the skill uses an approximate word to describe it. In this case, the word goblin”

“What I mean is that, although the word that describes this creature in front of us is not a goblin. It has enough characteristics for us to understand it as a goblin” Zack said when he saw the confused expressions of his companions.

Stolen story; please report.

“And what are those characteristics?”

“Weak, numerous, with high reproductive capacity, violent, …” Ryu and Kenzo's faces grew paler with each word that came out of their mouths.

Weak?

They looked at the 'goblin'

Even having been stuck in the air for a while unable to move, the ferocity in his eyes hadn't diminished at all, it could be said to have increased every second he looked at them. A trail of drool had fallen to the floor from his mouth, forming a mini puddle. Perhaps in its eyes, they are an inaccessible delicious delicacy.

Sharp claws that could split rocks, muscles bigger than melons, fangs that could easily pierce them.

It's as if Neanderthals on steroids had offspring with dinosaurs, and once they were grown, this one would have eaten the rest.

What part of this abomination is weak?!

Ryu swallowed for a moment and asked:

"Zack, when you say numerous, how many are you referring to?"

“It depends, but considering that this is the third floor of a C-rank dungeon, around fifty.

Fifty?!

Numerous? That is not numerous. That's a regiment!

“Doesn't that mean that the monsters on the second floor will be weaker? Maybe there's another kind of monster there” Kenzo said with a shaky voice.

Zack looked at them without changing his expression.

Goblins are one of the weakest creatures with a complete mutation of chaotic mana, and therefore one of the most frequent that one can find in a dungeon starting at rank C. Unless the environment is uninhabitable, or better for the survival of certain monsters, most dungeons have goblins on their first floors.

"If you think so, then go check it out"

Ryu and Kenzo locked eyes, unwilling to be the one to check the type of monster. After a while, they decided to go together, while Zack watched in silence as they climbed the stairs awkwardly.

It wasn't long before they were back. Their faces were paler than ever.

"On second thought, Zack's plan is excellent" Ryu replied without a change in his voice, which would have been convincing if not for the trembling in his legs.

Kenzo nodded furiously.

…

Outside the dungeon, things were unfolding rapidly.

The men in black made a surprise attack on the soldiers. Although the latter were able to organize their defenses quickly, they were quickly being cornered.

"AAAhhhhh!"

The commander retrieved his sword from the body of one of his attackers and looked around to survey the situation. Things were not going well.

"When are those reinforcements coming?" the captain asked one of the soldiers who was trying to get the wizard's equipment to work.

“We have already sent the signal commander. We are not sure when we will receive an answer” answered one of the soldiers who was looking at a strange cube covered in runes.

Not only did that surprise attack provide them with multiple casualties, but they also had finished off their only mage, making it difficult to contact the capital.

“Tsk. Drop that thing and start fighting!” ordered the commander.

The signal had already been sent, even if they received instructions from the capital, it would be impossible for them to fulfill them under the current conditions.

"Yes, Commander!" they answered as they left the team and prepared to support their teammates.

"Any signal from inside the dungeon?!"

“Negative, Commander. The dungeon activity is interfering with our signals” one of his soldiers replied as he fought off the enemies.

"What's going on in there?" the commander wondered.

The situation was getting worse by the minute, and his men were falling fast. The situation had to change.

"You and you! Come with me! Vice Commander, you are in charge!” the commander yelled at the soldiers who had abandoned the communications equipment.

"Yes, Commander!"

The commander led his men away from the battlefield, heading into the woods, as a voice answered in the distance.

The commander's actions were observed by several of the assailants, who went after him.

“As soon as we reach the forest, get into a camouflage position. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander" replied his men. The four of them soon reached the forest and entered its depths. Soon after, his pursuers entered as well.

When the latter entered the forest, they had already lost track of the soldiers.

The five pursuers looked at each other and quickly decided on a plan of action. Three of them separated in different directions, always in view of the remaining two, who will be able to react quickly in case of attack.

The enemies moved slowly, carefully scanning their surroundings to avoid being ambushed.

Soon, one of them entered a seemingly peaceful clearing. At that moment, I hear something moving in the tall grass on the other side of the clearing.

He approached slowly, carefully observing that place. Suddenly, something came out of the tall grass. Acting on instinct, his sword had already come out of the scabbard and headed toward the moving object.

"Kyuuu!"

The cry of an animal echoed through the clearing, now wounded and bleeding profusely. One of his companions signaled to him in the distance, asking if he was okay.

After confirming his safety, he set out to continue the search.

Bam

Without giving him time to react, something came out from behind the bushes and hit him square in the chest, knocking the air out of him.

“GROOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!”

A bear nearly three meters tall pounced on the fallen man. His eyes showed uncontrollable anger when it saw the small animal bleeding on the ground.

The animal he attacked earlier turned out to be the hatchling of this monster. His companions quickly ran to his aid to get rid of the beast.

Meanwhile, near the exit of the forest, the commander of the ambushed squad and his soldiers were meeting after having disposed of their pursuers.

In other circumstances, they stayed to fight, but with every second their men are dying in the face of their attackers. It's not the moment.

“Come on, we don't have much time” said the commander to his soldiers.

Several of his men looked toward the woods with some resentment. They obviously did not want to leave their enemies alive.

(Maybe next time) thought one of the soldiers as they followed the commander.