It took only a short while for Talia to spot another gang of Goblins, and this one was the largest group of Goblins she had found so far.

These Goblins seemed to be currently enjoying themselves greatly, there was five in total and each was chugging bottles of alcohol foolishly, laughing among themselves as they stumbled around noisily.

However, Talia could straight away tell that two of the Goblins among the group was a bit different to the ones she previously fought, as they both seemed to be a marksman with each of them carrying a crossbow on their backs.

Talia narrowed her eyes firmly as she stared at the Goblins, it was common knowledge within the game that the bolts which are loaded into the crossbows from the Goblin are not the usual ones but are instead magic-enhanced bolts.

Due to the Goblins being greatly successful in their previous raids they had gathered a great deal of loot which includes dozens of deadly weapons.

Magic-enhanced bolts especially are a luxury item for ordinary crossbowman as they have been enchanted by a Mage who has specifically inscribed essence infused spells into the bolts to increase its power.

It was also why Talia took notice of the two Goblins, considering them far more formidable opponents in comparison to the other Goblins.

Talia knew all too well from her experience in the game that the crossbow-wielding Goblins are a major threat, if not quickly dealt with they can deal a great amount of damage something she preferred to avoid.

Ignoring the roaring laughter coming from the Goblins she straight away locked gazes at the range attacking Goblins as she pondered on the best way to confront this group of enemies.

Searching around the room thoroughly she found the best angle for her to launch a sneak attack.

Talia also knew that once the Goblins were alerted she needed to ensure that she was in a position which will enable her to better close the distance between the Goblins after launching her first attack.

She knew that she had one shot to take down one of the crossbowmen before the rest of the group become aware of her presence.

Despite the Goblins apparent foolishness they had amble battle experience, meaning she will only have a brief opportunity to deal with the second crossbow-wielding Goblin before the Goblins will move into a battle formation securely protecting the remaining ranged attacker.

Hence Talia not only had to ensure that she dealt with the first crossbow-wielding Goblin in her first attack, but she also had to quickly finish off the remaining Goblin marksman before the other Goblins rushed in to protect it.

Quietly approaching the best area to attack, she swiftly made her preparations making sure she was at her peak state before beginning to cast a spell which currently had the most lethal effect on a lone target among her spells, ‘Ice Spear’!

The Goblins who were chuckling merrily as they clumsily performed a strange dance were caught completely off guard as the first crossbow-wielding Goblin was sent flying in the air upon the impact of the spell.

Its neck let out a resounding snap as it slammed into the cave wall behind it, with the spear lodged in its body the Goblin was well and truly dead with it not even getting the chance of survival with its neck broken due to the great force of the spear-throwing it into the solid stone wall.

Before the Goblins could react to what's happening Talia had already charged directly at them thunderously as she pounced on the remaining crossbow-wielding Goblin.

Yet even with their seemingly drunken state, the Goblins has already recovered from their stupor letting out battle cries as they came to support their fallen brethren.

Talia was even further surprised by the crossbow-wielding Goblins melee abilities as it clumsily managed to preserve its life despite her barrage of attacks leaving a mixture of tears and cuts through its armour injuring the Goblin but not causing any fatal damage

The Goblin guarded its vital areas well from her sharp talons, so she was not able to end its life before the other three Goblins jumped onto her providing the crossbow-wielding Goblin with an opportunity to escape from her clutches.

After it managed to free itself, Talia knew that she had to deal with the remaining enemies with haste before it could let out an attack.

However, as she tried to attempt to once again finish of the crossbow-wielding Goblin, the battle experienced Goblins already did not give her the leisure to do so as they worked together with great teamwork as they blocked all routes to attack the Goblin marksman.

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This lead to her feeling greatly frustrated as she once again realised the Goblins were truly a troublesome enemy, as unlike the Fishkin or Giant Rats they were far smarter and worked with great efficiency in groups.

The well-coordinated Goblins could take down opponents even stronger than them as long as they were given the chance to work together.

It was especially apparent with these elite Goblins, who were far smarter than the norm.

Talia now knew it was a fools dream to continue trying to target the Goblin marksman before she managed to disrupt the three Goblins battle formation, so she instantly switched targets but even though she was stronger than the Goblins individually they managed to bridge this gap with their excellent teamwork.

She was suppressing them and was gradually gaining a bigger upper hand the longer the battle between them, but this was all the time they needed to provide to allow the Goblin marksman to launch its first attack.

A crossbow bolt whizzed swiftly through the air not giving Talia a chance to react as it slammed into the ‘Ice Barrier’ the force instantly depleting the remaining energy in the spell smashing the barrier into pieces as the force of the bolt continued to fly towards landing on her body before it deflected off her scales leaving a shallow mark.

Talia straight away noticed the wound and was inwardly shocked as even when the ‘Ice Barrier’ spell depleted the majority of force from the crossbow bolt it still managed to wound her, even if it was only a minor one.

Yet the Goblins were even more dumbfounded on how little she was damaged by the crossbow bolt, after all, they knew exactly how lethal it was and had used it many times on merchant caravans witnessing many times instantly killing most human warriors.

Talia straight away took advantage of this brief moment of distraction as she clawed at the unguarded throat of a Goblin who hurriedly moved to protect itself but Talia was simply too swift as blood spurted out of the Goblins neck with it fruitlessly attempting to stop the gushing blood by moving its hand to cover its throat.

‘One down’ Talia wordlessly muttered as she moved onto the next Goblin.

With one down the two remaining Goblins were no longer able to barely draw a stalemate with her as she soon dealt with another Goblin as it fell to the floor lifelessly, but in the time it took her to take out this Goblin gave the marksman another opportunity to launch an attack and this time there was no ‘Ice Barrier’ to protect her.

The second bolt whizzed through the air striking Talia squarely digging into her flesh before stopping halfway, her thick flesh preventing the bolt from going deeper, a wave of agony spread through her body, the inscription of the bolt coming into effect.

Ignoring the piercing pain erupting in her body, she gritted her teeth even surprising herself at her own mental strength as she attacked the remaining Goblin even more ruthlessly before.

She knew the specific inscription of this bolt was both to strengthen its piercing effect, and to heighten the pain caused by the bolt, making the target feel a wave of agony the intended purpose to make the target immobile and helpless to defend themselves even if the target survived.

The pain was a great distraction, especially with it being greatly heightened, it was one of the reasons why she was so desperate to avoid this fate as in the game players themselves experienced this feeling even if it was much milder with the game set in the VR pod being toned down greatly in comparison to real life, but even that was too punishing for most players to handle.

Talia did not know if it was the beast soul or the strengthening of her stats, but the agonising pain filling her body served to only fuel her strikes as she became increasingly more aggressive.

The lone Goblin was helpless before the raging Frost Gecko and soon fell victim to its strikes, the remaining Goblin marksman noticing that its situation was not looking favourable began to make its retreat to alert other Goblins in the cave but it underestimated just how fast Talia was with her already reaching the Goblin.

It shrieked in fear as it futilely raised its melee weapon to defend itself but this did nothing to hint Talia who eyes were filled with blood lust as she ripped the marksman to shreds in revenge for the punishment it made her went through.

After finishing off the last Goblin, she once again shifted into human form to remove the crossbow bolt out of her flesh, blood poured out of her wound after it was removed, but she knew it was the only way to stop the sharp pain continuing to ravage through her body.

Also, unlike a normal human, she healed far quicker, and a scab was already beginning to form, sealing the blood exiting the wound, for the first time she also tried her new spell ‘Cleansing aura’, which seemed to be a passive spell which sped up the recovery of essence and health for herself, and targets individuals which she deems ‘friendly’ within a certain region, it had a minimal cost which her natural essence regeneration covered but its down point was it could only be cast within a non-hostile environment in which she was focused enough to activate it.

Waiting for a moment until she felt that she recovered sufficiently, she began to search the Goblins bodies picking up the valuable items among them including the coins, and expensive crossbow bolts from the Goblin marksman.

Feeling satisfied that she had gathered everything useful, she continued to make her way further into the cave.

After dealing with another few groups of Goblins, some of which contain more Goblin marksman she had finally reached a spacious looking room, at the end of the room was a large door outside of which were two heavily armoured Goblins holding two large shields.

Her eyes became grave after spotting the two large looking Goblins as she knew that these were the among the stronger warriors among the Goblins, which meant she had finally arrived at the section of the lair in which the stronger Goblins were located.

Although she had gained an additional level after dealing with more groups of Goblins on the way here, she knew that these Goblins would prove to be a tough challenge as the armour they were equipped with was unordinary and she was unsure if her claws could pierce through to damage the Goblins.

Taking a deep breath she readied herself for the upcoming battle but before she could make a move the large iron door began to move after it opened a hunched-back Goblin wearing a cloak emerged from the other side, its eyes glowed an eerie green as it walked out through the door.

She immediately knew who it was upon sighting the Goblin instinctively mumbling, ‘Goblin Shaman!’