On the morning of the next day, the four adventurers enjoyed a hearty breakfast of boiled eggs, oatmeal, goat cheese, goat's milk, and pickled lamb ribs. After preparing their weapons and gear, they set out with the simple map drawn by the village chief, heading towards the mountain range where the goblin tribe was located.
Goblins are humanoid creatures, similar in height to dwarves. They typically have long, pointed ears and protruding, sharp noses, with dark green skin. They are small, ugly, red-eyed beings. Goblins are mostly greedy and despicable, leaning towards evil, cunning, and deceitful behaviors.
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They primarily live underground and deep within forests, operating under a unique order and system. Though their cultural development is not advanced, they have a distinctive understanding of mining and constructing underground structures.
While goblins are weak in combat, their reproduction rate is second only to that of rats. Consequently, their numbers are large, and they often make up for their lack of combat prowess by acting in large groups.
These green-skinned creatures prefer meat and are highly interested in shiny objects, particularly valuing rare and precious items like gold coins, silver coins, and diamonds. They occasionally pick wild fruits but do not actively cultivate crops, relying mainly on hunting and plundering for food.
A goblin tribe in a forest is usually well-behaved when its numbers are small. They tame wild wolves, craft simple weapons, and hunt rabbits and deer in groups. They can even engage in friendly exchanges with passing adventurers and travelers, trading food for shiny metal coins.
However, once the goblin population reaches a certain level, their audacity grows in tandem with their numbers. Led by their chieftain, hordes of goblins become bold enough to attack villages, plunder crops, ambush adventurers, and even kidnap isolated individuals.
Most of those captured by goblins are women, and unless adventurers or knights from nearby castles come to the rescue, few manage to return alive.
Of course, goblins are indeed weak in combat. A seasoned adventurer can easily handle three or four goblins at once, and for someone like Barrett, killing goblins is as easy as killing rats.
However, due to the goblins' cunning nature and some level of organizational discipline, many inexperienced adventurers have met their end in these encounters.
Typically, when new adventurers take on goblin missions, the Adventurer's Guild recommends a mithril-level adventurer as the leader.
After slogging through rugged and muddy mountain paths for a while, the Last Defender of the Way adventurer team finally arrived at the cave marked on the crude map. This cave was highly likely to be the entrance to the goblin tribe's lair.
With one orichalcum-level, one mithril-level, and one platinum-level adventurer, the team was exceptionally well-equipped for this goblin hunt.
The only silver-level cleric, Stella, also followed EeDeChi's orders by removing her pretty cleric uniform, piling up her armor, donning a great helm, and wrapping herself tightly in chainmail. If not for her silver-white staff in hand, anyone might mistake her for a heavily armored warrior.
great helm [https://i.redd.it/9bepc2rrg7r21.jpg]
Luckily, Stella had previously enchanted her chainmail with a lightweight spell, or else she would have suffered terribly on this mountain climb.
Barrett, armed with a short sword and clad in Gorgon leather armor, lit a tallow torch and led the way into the cave. EeDeChi followed closely behind, with Stella's staff casting a bright magical glow. Sean, carrying a crossbow and another torch, brought up the rear.
"I heard goblins are creations of the gods. Is that true?" EeDeChi asked curiously, peering around with the torchlight.
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"Hmph, that's just nonsense. If goblins were creations of the gods, then squerriks must be the gods' chosen ones!" Barrett shook his head. He didn't understand why the captain had such peculiar ideas.
When they came to a fork in the path, the seasoned adventurer crouched down and sniffed at the cave walls, carefully searching for any signs of goblins. He then waved the other three to follow and proceeded down one of the paths.
In dark, damp cave entrances, there are often devious traps—bamboo spikes smeared with filth, stones hanging from the ceiling, bone spikes covered with rubble, and more.
Barrett easily detected and disarmed these traps. Although goblins are crafty, their intelligence is so limited that their traps are child's play for Barrett, a mithril-level adventurer.
After traveling a bit further, they stepped down a rough stone staircase covered in gravel and saw a bone decoration made from a goat skull and wooden crosspieces on the cave wall.
Barrett's expression grew serious. He fastened a luminous crystal headband to his forehead, signaling the others to be on high alert and prepare for battle.
Turning down a winding path, they detected a strong stench of blood, faint cries of humans, the sound of torn fabric, and the distinctive harsh laughter of goblins.
The four adventurers gripped their weapons tightly and advanced in formation toward the source of the noise. Suddenly, from the depths of the dark cave, a shower of stones, stone spears, and meteor hammers came crashing down on them.
Barrett pulled out a small oak shield and used his short sword to deflect the incoming stone weapons with a flurry of swift strikes.
The crystal on his headband flared to life, illuminating the path ahead like a miner's headlamp. Under the bright light, a swarm of goblins armed with stone spears, short knives, and obsidian axes rushed toward them.
image [https://randomc.net/image/Goblin%20Slayer/Goblin%20Slayer%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2010.jpg]
Stella's staff emitted a soft glow as she waved it, and Barrett's short sword ignited with red flames.
Barrett raised his small shield in front of him and swung his enchanted burning short sword, executing a Martial Art move. He cut through the goblin horde with fluid motions, severing their arteries and chests, instantly taking down three goblins.
EeDeChi leaped forward, her giant sword carving deep gashes into the cave walls despite the narrow space. He swiftly struck down six goblins with powerful blows.
Sean nocked an arrow on his longbow and released it, each steel arrow hitting its mark. The goblins wielding meteor hammers fell one by one.
Stella chanted a spell under her breath, and a large orb of holy light emerged from her staff, floating at the top of the cave and dispelling the darkness. She also cast several 1st Tier fireballs, smashing down a few more goblins.
In the shadow behind her, a goblin with a short sword crept up quietly. The cleric girl was so focused on casting spells that she didn't notice the goblin preparing a sneak attack. With its battle experience, the goblin leaped suddenly and thrust its short sword toward the girl's waist. Sean, who was drawing his bow, noticed the goblin just in time but was already too late to intervene.
The short sword barely penetrated the thick chainmail, causing Stella to stumble slightly. The goblin that attempted the sneak attack didn't understand why the cleric girl's armor was so tough before Sean's enraged arrow pierced its skull, pinning it to the ground.
The wave of goblins was quickly dispatched, leaving only a few remaining who screamed in terror and fled deeper into the cave.
The cave floor was littered with goblin limbs, blood dripping steadily and flowing along the stone crevices. Most of the dismembered limbs were the result of Barrett's work, while EeDeChi had merely knocked goblins away, leaving their corpses intact.
The adventurer captain scowled in disgust and said to Barrett, "Be a bit more careful. You don't need to be so brutally violent. Just knock them out like I do; there's no need to chop them to pieces. Got it?"
"Yeah..." Barrett agreed on the surface but inwardly grumbled. What a strange request. I don't have your innate strength to just knock them dead and still leave intact bodies. Besides, you've probably killed twice as many goblins as I have.
The four adventurers continued through the cave and arrived in a stone chamber where they heard the sobbing of a human woman. Before they could locate the source of the cries, a massive green mound of flesh appeared on one side of the chamber. The mound trembled and roared angrily as it charged toward them.
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"What is that thing? Do goblins get that big?" EeDeChi exclaimed in surprise.
"It's a goblin giant, a mutated relic of its ancestors," Barrett said just as EeDeChi leaped forward and struck the goblin giant on the head with his sword.
The imposing mound of flesh staggered a few steps before crashing to the ground, lifeless.
"Damn humans! Damn adventurers! Aaaaah! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to wipe you all out!" A furious, raspy voice erupted from behind the fallen giant.
Illuminated by Stella's magical light orb, an old goblin with a feathered crown and iron rings in its nose and ears emerged. It wielded a green bone staff, slamming it onto the ground, its face twisted into a hideous, frenzied expression.