Elijah set out into the dark forest with twenty-four warriors from the village and five players. Five of those warriors were told to go ahead of the group to search for goblins and other threats. The rest of the warriors moved in a diamond formation through the forest with Elijah and the other players in the center.
Before they entered the forest, all of the warriors switched to the hunter job. This was a standard practice they followed each time they entered the forest. The hunter job increased the perception and dexterity stats which helped them move safely through the forest. Also, the hunter job offered several skills which improved their awareness and their ability to avoid dangerous situations.
Unlike Elijah, most players and characters in the game, were able to change their class once every six-hour time period. In Fallen Heaven, between dawn and noon, a player would have one opportunity to change their job. If they didn’t change their job during this time period, the opportunity would not be carried over to the next time period, noon and dusk.
During the night, the warriors traveled slowly because they were using their stealth skill that their hunter job provided them. However, their slow pace required Elijah and the other players to maintain a quick jog, so they could keep up with them. As they moved through the forest at night everyone was alert.
Roars and cries of different beasts resounded through the forest. The group heard fighting in the distance and sometimes nearby. If it wasn’t for the experience of Justin and the other warriors, Elijah would have been consumed by the violence that the forest displayed.
As the group moved forward, Justin, who was at the head of the group, would occasionally tell the group to stop. He would look at a few trees and then change the direction the group was moving in. The group still headed south of the village, but there were slight deviations towards the east and west.
When Elijah passed by the trees Justin looked at, he saw a few symbols scratched into the trunk. Elijah assumed they were left by the warriors who were sent out ahead of the group. However, he was unable to ask Justin because it was still nighttime, and Justin repeatedly told them not to speak during the night.
Knowing that silence was important, Elijah did his best to mimic the movements of the warriors. He noticed that when he stepped where they stepped and walked how they walked he made less noise. As the night progressed, a few minutes before dawn, Elijah received a notification for his efforts.
You have learned from a group of skilled hunters, and you are now able to receive the Hunter Job. Will you accept? Yes, or no?
Elijah accepted the job, and he immediately received another notification telling him he was unable to change jobs. Elijah expected this to happen, so he wasn’t upset when he received the notification. However, he was upset when he heard another player announce they got the hunter job.
“Hey, I just got the hunter-”
One of the players, Tyler, tried to speak. However, a warrior quickly covered his mouth to stop him from making a sound. Everyone stopped and waited to see if there was any reaction to Tyler’s voice. After a few seconds with no reaction from their surroundings, all of the warriors shot a glare at Tyler before the group continued moving forward.
Speaking during the night was definitely a rookie mistake, but Elijah didn’t plan to make things too difficult for Tyler in the future. After all, the closer it got to dawn, the quieter the forest became. Elijah became a lot more relaxed and wasn’t as guarded. He assumed the same thing happened to Tyler. The only difference was Tyler spoke and he didn’t.
Dawn arrived and passed. Justin let Elijah and the other players know that they could speak, but it was best to whisper when they did. Also, he showed them a hand sign that the warriors used to indicate a need for silence.
For the next seven hours the group traveled through the forest without taking a break. The journey was uneventful with only a few beasts, wandering onto their path. Tyler and the other players were the ones that dealt with the beasts.
By now, all of the villager new that players could become stronger by absorbing energy from the beasts they killed. Other than Elijah, the players in the village spent time going into the forest during the day to hunt beast and increase their cultivation levels. They all manage to obtain a warrior job, but none of them learned a specialty.
Currently, the players were at level twelve and were quickly growing stronger from killing beasts. Of course, Elijah tried to explain the importance of cultivation techniques. However, he was unable to tell them everything without being suspicious.
Elijah didn’t give them his cultivation technique, but as the chief he was able to let them use the same cultivation technique as the other villagers. Sadly, the village’s cultivation technique was of a poor quality and practicing it would be a waste of time. In fact, when Elijah first saw the cultivation technique, he was shocked by how terrible it was.
After Elder Jeb showed Elijah the cultivation technique, he asked Elijah if he could improve their cultivation technique or give them a better one. At that moment, Elijah received a quest to find a better cultivation technique for the villagers. Although he accepted the quest without hesitation, he had no idea how he would complete it.
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“This is so boring,” Tyler said. “I thought we would have been able to fight some goblins by now.”
After more than seven hours of travel, Justin called for a break. Most of the warriors gathered in a secluded area to eat the rations prepared for them in the village. The warriors that weren’t eating were on lookout for potential threats.
“The longer it takes for us to meet goblins the better,” Justin said.
“Why?”
“It’s an indication of how close they are to the village,” Elijah replied. “The earlier we meet the goblins the closer they are to the village. That means everyone in the village is closer to danger.”
“Exactly,” Justin agreed.
“Goblins.” A warrior fiercely whispered.
Immediately, everyone was on their feet and moving in the direction the whisper came from. Looking down, the group saw ten goblins that stopped to rest. Justin signaled five of the warriors to stay behind, while the rest of the warriors went down the tiny hill they were on.
“We attack all together and take them by surprise,” Justin said after one of the warriors came back from checking the surroundings. “There are no more goblins in the surroundings, so we don’t have to worry about anyone taking advantage of us during the fight.”
“I would like to suggest we do something different,” Elijah interrupted.
“I thought you said you will follow my lead.” Justin replied with a frown on his face.
“You have the final say at the moment. I’m only making a suggestion.” Seeing Justin nod Elijah continued speaking. “I think the two of us should attack them by ourselves. It’s likely that we will have to fight against goblins while we are outnumbered in the future. Right now, we have a great opportunity to experience what that’s like. We can take the experience from this battle and use it to improve the way we fight goblins in the future.
Justin was ready to refuse Elijah’s suggestion. However, the more Elijah spoke the more Justin liked his idea. After he thought about what Elijah said for a few seconds he was almost completely sold on the idea.
“This seems a little risky,” Justin stated.
“We have archers to provide cover, and the strongest goblins is more than ten levels lower than you.”
Goblin Lvl 8
Goblin Lvl 10
Goblin Lvl 11
Goblin Lvl 9
Human Lvl 30
“Why is it the two of us going? Wouldn’t it be better if another warrior came with me?”
“It would,” Elijah honestly replied. “But I could use the fighting experience. Also, my skills would be very useful.”
Justin flashed Zane a grin and a look of understanding. Elijah gave Justin the same grin and look in return. He knew Justin had seen through him and understood that he was coming up with reasons to fight. Of course, all of the reasons Elijah gave were very logical.
“Alright, the chief and I will attack them by ourselves. The rest of you surround the goblins and try to stay out of sight.”
None of the warriors raised any complaints. The reasons Elijah gave was great and everyone was confident that nothing would go wrong. The players complained about not getting an opportunity to fight, but they still followed the other warriors.
Hefting his shield and sword, Elijah followed Justin toward the goblins. It didn’t take long for the goblins to notice them and charge toward them. The goblins had green skin, yellow eyes, large noses and long ears. They had a short stature with their heads being only slightly above Elijah’s waist. They were covered in damaged leather and wielded damaged weapons.
As the goblins got closer, Elijah was better able to sense the frenzied aura they exuded that matched the frenzied expressions they wore. Elijah assumed this was the state that Elder Jeb and the other leaders were worried about. He widened his stance and prepared to receive their charge.
You have received 0 (-14) damage.
You have received 0 (-13) damage.
Two goblins slammed their damaged weapons into Elijah’s shield and dealt no damage to Elijah. The strength and power in the attacks didn’t even force Elijah to take a step back. Elijah was surprised by how weak the two goblins were. However, he didn’t let their weakness distract him from the battle. Elijah had already activated his Supreme Combat skill, so the only thing left to do was unleash two quick slashes toward the two goblins throats.
You have dealt 77 (86) critical damage.
You have dealt bleeding damage. -10 HP per second.
You have dealt 81 (88) critical damage.
You have dealt bleeding damage. -10 HP per second.
Elijah only spent two seconds watching the two goblins fall to the ground try as they tried to stop the blood that was gushing out of their throats. Knowing they would quickly die, Elijah turned to focus on the goblins that were circling around them. The remaining goblins were not dismayed by the serious injuries their companions received and were eager to continue the battle.
Steel and blood flew through the air. Both Justin and Elijah turned into lethal weapons as they moved across the battlefield. The battle was fast and bloody. If Elijah had to sum up the battle with one word it would be, disappointing.
“That was easier than I thought it would be,” Elijah spoked to Justin over the goblin corpses. “In fact, I would say it was too easy. Could Elder Jeb and the others be wrong about the increase in strength goblins receive when they gather together?”
During the fight with the goblins, Elijah didn’t use his full strength. He didn’t use his Supreme Will talent, the suppression power that his ruler’s specialty gave him or any of his other skill. He held back because he wanted to try to get an accurate understandings ability. Sadly, the goblins he fought were simply too weak. Elijah knew his ruler specialty made him stronger than cultivators at the same level, but he didn’t think it made him overpowered.
“No. My grandfather would tell us if he wasn’t completely confident the goblins had the ability. We might need to fight a large group of goblins. Or we might be so strong that it doesn’t matter if they used their ability or not.”
Elijah agreed with what Justin said. Elder Jeb explained that it wasn’t easy for most characters in the game to grow stronger. A human with a level ten cultivation level would most likely have their specialty and job at a similar level. Elijah doubted that the average goblin was able to develop their specialty and jobs as well as humans could.
Of course, Elijah couldn’t be absolutely sure. He didn’t know much about the general strength of goblins and their abilities. Also, he had no way of knowing the type of skills the goblins he faced today had. There were to many unknowns about the battle, so, for now, it was best to pack up and move on.
“Boss, we have their tracks. One set his heading toward the village while the other is heading south. We should follow the south track and see if we can find their base.”
“Good,” Justin said. “Let’s clean up the area and follow them.”
“Sounds good to me,” Elijah added.