Phantom in the Mist
As a swordsmanship instructor, Instructor Virgil Elf Long Sword the neck of one of the Goat-headed Monster -Goat-headed Monster almost as soon as he made contact with it.
Instructor Eleanor, also demonstrated to Roy the fighting style of a ranger: lightness, flexibility, and coordination. She moved freely between the two Goat-headed Monster, like a dancer dancing on the edge of a knife, with gorgeous steps and her Elf Long Sword almost creating a series of sword flowers.
Instructor Gru employed a different, more extreme fighting style. He stood on a tree branch, giving the Goat-headed Monster no chance to get close.
After Elinore, Virgil, and Roy blocked five Goat-headed Monster, only one Goat-headed Monster was truly chasing after him. Instructor Gru stopped dodging and stood on a horizontal branch of a large tree, facing the charging Goat-headed Monster. Gelu drew his short bow to its full extent.
Just as the Goat-headed Monster leaped into the air, Instructor Gru fired his arrow at the perfect moment.
An arrow imbued with the Wind Elemental Power transformed into a white beam of light, instantly piercing through the Goat-headed Monster's forehead, a smear of blood flying out from the back of its head along with the arrow.
The Goat-headed Monster's body also leaned backward in mid-air, then crashed heavily onto the grassy forest floor, leaving a trail of blood.
That's how battles often are: they start on the spot, and then end just as quickly.
These Goat-headed Monster are clearly native to the Pattington Plane.
Generally speaking, once elves enter a plane, they do not deliberately suppress or kill the local natives; instead, they pursue the way of nature.
These Goat-headed Monster are a demi-human race, whose intelligence is even inferior to that of the fish-people living by the sea. They do not have their own language, but they live in groups. They can make simple tools and animal skin clothing, and they have learned to use fire.
Of course, these were not the reasons why the elves slaughtered them.
The elves could not tolerate these Goat-headed Monster, mainly for two reasons. First, there was the issue of their beliefs: the Goat-headed Monster worshipped the moon, and every full moon night, they would hold grand celebrations in their tribe, a nearly all-night revelry. Second, they were greedy, bloodthirsty, and lustful by nature; at the end of each celebration, the goat-headed people would contribute to the tribe's reproduction and survival.
For the elves, blasphemy against the Moon Goddess was the most intolerable thing. Secondly, these goat- Goat-headed Monster Goat-headed Monster seemed to have a fondness for female elves, and they even disregarded life and death in order to obtain female elven women.
In the beginning, when the elves entered the Pattington Plane, they saw these goat-headed tribes of demi-humans and even intended to civilize these Goat-headed Monster...
But after the elves paid a heavy price for spreading knowledge, they discovered that longswords were far more useful than books.
Currently, it's rare to see Goat-headed Monster near the Padesto City.
There are also goat-headed people around Tines Village, which is probably because there is Cold Pond here, and a large amount of mist shrouds this mountain forest.
In the Mist Jungle surrounding the Cold Pond, there may still be a tribe of Goat-headed Monster. This group of Goat-headed Monster went to the edge of the jungle to hunt, but they were unlucky and encountered Instructor Eleanor's group before entering the Mist Jungle.
Unfortunately, there are very few spoils to be gained from the Goat-headed Monster. They are only subhumans, not even considered low-level magical beasts. Only the goat's head with horns has a little collectible value. If you want to be a little more discerning, the spear under the Goat-headed Monster can also be used as medicine, but only human herbalists would buy these. These things are not popular in the Elven World.
Instructor Virgil cut off the head of a Goat-headed Monster, wiped away the blood, peeled a piece of skin from the Goat-headed Monster's body, wrapped it up simply, and put it into his Magic Pouch.
"How come there are still Goat-headed Monster here? Wasn't it said that the goat-headed race on the Pattington Plane was extinct long ago?"
Instructor Virgil wiped the blood from the blade of his sword onto the Goat-headed Monster's furry corpse.
"How could we possibly kill them all!" Instructor Eleanor said casually, wiping her longsword with a handkerchief. "Most of the ram-headed natives were simply driven to other parts of Pattington Plane."
"Roy, in the Pattington Plane, these Goat-headed Monster are synonymous with danger. They might strike you fatally from somewhere you can't see them at any time," Instructor Eleanor said to Roy. "So when we encounter them, the best thing to do is to kill them directly. If there are too many Goat-headed Monster on the other side, then we must retreat decisively without any hesitation or wishful thinking. Although they only have rudimentary intelligence, their perception is by no means inferior."
"Understood, Instructor Eleanor."
Roy humbly accepted the lesson; it was Instructor Eleanor who had helped him deal with the Goat-headed Monster in front of him just now.
Instructor Virgil and Instructor Gru began digging a pit under a nearby tree, and Roy quickly ran over to help. The tree had a very extensive root system, making it difficult to dig a deep pit. This time, they needed to bury six Goat-headed Monster and a wild boar, so the three of them put in a lot of effort to get rid of all the Goat-headed Monster.
When burying the last Goat-headed Monster, Roy even sniffed its wounds and, sure enough, there was an unmistakable stench.
Seeing the corpses of these Goat-headed Monster, Roy even had a slightly wicked thought.
He wanted to cut some lean meat off the Goat-headed Monster to make some kebabs.
After Instructor Eleanor scouted the area and found no other Goat-headed Monster, she and the others dug a pit to bury the corpses while waiting for Instructor Nora and the others.
Because guide Majeri was traveling with Instructor Nora, no one was worried that Instructor Nora and the others would get lost in the Mist Jungle.
The three instructors sat under a tree, savoring a sweet and sour berry they had just picked, while discussing the battle they had just fought.
Clearly, Roy's performance had been observed by all three instructors.
"Roy, you're not the kind of warrior who relies on strength. You don't have enough strength to effectively kill enemies with blunt weapons. So I suggest that when you're not strong enough, you use sharp weapons as much as possible, such as scimitars, longswords, or spears."
Instructor Virgil offered Roy advice.
He then added, "This will give you a significant boost in combat."
Roy quickly and earnestly explained to Instructor Virgil, "Instructor, the battle just now was too sudden. I wasn't prepared at all, otherwise I would have definitely smashed that Goat-headed Monster's head!"
Instructor Eleanor patted Roy on the shoulder Roy said, "Instructor Virgil's advice is to help you win in an easier way. But what I want to tell you is that all your movements in the fight are too stiff because of tension. Tension is the most useless thing, Roy. Tension will not help you win the fight, so you need to overcome this fear."
"During combat, your movements should be fluid and smooth, leaving your opponent no opportunity to strike. You are currently learning Elementary Martial Arts from Nora, and you will need to learn intermediate and advanced martial arts next. It would be best to also learn the elven Archery Body Art."
Roy quickly and carefully wrote it down.
Instructor Eleanor pointed at Instructor Gru and said to Roy with a smile, "If you want to learn Archery Body Art, now you have a good teacher who can help you with some basics in advance."
Instructor Gru pulled the arrow out of the Goat-headed Monster, rinsed it with water, and put it back in his quiver. He was resting under a tree when he heard Instructor Eleanor's words and quickly said to Roy:
"Roy, Elementary Martial Arts training is a required course for all Warrior Class, but the various martial arts courses you learn later are closely related to the path you choose in the future. Before learning each course, you need to understand the purpose of learning this martial art. For example, practicing Archery Body Art can improve your flexibility and balance, which is not only helpful for archers, but also for rangers and swordsmen. However, Archery Body Art is not a required course for Sword Dancer."
Roy thought for a moment before saying to the instructors, "I think I should become a Warrior Class in the future. I want to wield a warhammer and hold a shield at the forefront of the battlefield during battle..."
Instructor Eleanor was startled. "You want to become a Holy Knight of the Moon God Temple? Half-Elf can't join the Moon God Temple, you should give up on this idea!"
"Instructor Eleanor, you may have forgotten that I am still a Novice Priest of the Goddess of Freedom Temple, so I want to become a Combat Priest!"
Roy explained.
"Combat Priest! That's a relatively unpopular combat class. We can't give you any advice because we don't know much about it ourselves!"
The three instructors looked at each other, unsure of what to say.
Looking at the small Round Shield on Roy's arm and the Holy Scepter standing to the side, Instructor Eleanor recalled Nora's original intention in bringing Roy into the Adventure Group. She brought Roy into the Adventure Group only to have him take the place of the priest of the Moon God Temple.
Because Instructor Nora is a Half-Elf, the priests of the Moon God Temple were unwilling to Instructor Nora's Adventure Group, which is why Instructor Nora sought out Roy.
The squad had just encountered Goat-headed Monster when Roy charged into the battlefield with his shield, making the instructors forget that Roy was actually Priest.
Speaking of the Goddess of Freedom Temple, the instructors had heard that the Goddess of Freedom Temple were gradually disappearing all over the Elf Continent, but obviously this was not a good topic, so the instructors kept quiet about it.
In fact, Roy was also feeling frustrated because the battle was too rushed. He not only failed to cast ' Strength Blessing ', but he also didn't have time to activate his Magic Inscription Construct, which is why he was beaten so badly by that Goat-headed Monster.
Not long after, Instructor Nora led another squad out of the Mist Jungle.
Seeing Instructor Eleanor with Gelu, Virgil, Roy, and the others outside the Mist Jungle, even drying their leather armor in the sun, Instructor Nora shouted at Instructor Eleanor:
"So you came out a while ago. We were just worried about you. It seems you didn't find any clues about the Blue Ice Deer either?"
Instructor Eleanor looked at Instructor Nora, who was soaking wet, and said with a smile, "We didn't find any clues about the Blue Ice Deer, but we ran into a few Goat-headed Monster, and they're buried right here!"
Instructor Eleanor pointed to the area under the big tree.
"Goat-headed Monster? I've never heard the villagers of Tines Village mention it. There are Goat-headed Monster around here!"
Guide Majeri came up from behind and said with some surprise.
Instructor Virgil took out the Goat-headed Monster's head from his Magic Pouch and placed it in front of Guide Majeri.
Everyone gathered around again, staring at the bloody sheep's head. Sabrina and Christine even covered their mouths, trying to suppress their intense nausea.
Guide Majeri exclaimed in surprise, "It really is a male adult Goat-headed Monster! These creatures were driven to the north of the Pattington Plane by the elves of Padesto a long time ago. I never expected that a remnant tribe of Goat-headed Monster would still live here..."
"Are these Goat-headed Monster the natives of Pattington?" Instructor Nora asked.
"That was true before, but then several rapes and murders occurred in the villages near Padesto. The Goat-headed Monster even held a moon-worshiping ceremony in the tribe. So everyone drove these Goat-headed Monster to the north of Pattington. In fact, the Moon God Temple held several expeditions afterward, but because of the long distance, the Expeditionary Force had to withdraw halfway through the journey..." Guide Majeri explained to everyone.
"So, the Goat-headed Monster on the Pattington Plane are mostly located north of Padesto City?" Instructor Nora pressed further.
"That's pretty much it. At least south of Padesto, up to the Griffon Bulwark, it's very difficult to see Goat-headed Monster," Majeri, the guide, replied.
"There are vast Mist Jungle here, perhaps an exception. When we go back, I might tell the villagers of Tines Village about this. I'm sorry, I may not be able to keep this a secret for you," Majeri whispered to Instructor Nora.
"Of course, it's what we should do. Even if you don't do it, we will still say so," Instructor Nora said.
"That's wonderful!"
Instructor Nora turned to Instructor Eleanor and asked, "Elinore, you must have scouted the area! Did you find anything?"
"No, apart from the Goat-headed Monster we killed, I haven't found any useful information!" Instructor Eleanor spread her hands and complained softly, "After entering the Mist Jungle, I had a feeling that the entire forest had abandoned me..."
"Perhaps it's too cold in the Mist Jungle, and the plants in the jungle are in a semi-dormant state, which is why they haven't retained any memories."
Instructor Nora comforted Instructor Eleanor.
The Adventure Group left the Mist Forest and returned to Tines Village along the dense woods.
Suddenly, a giant, ice-blue moose emerged from the swirling white mist. Its antlers resembled a flowering tree, its body was covered in countless ice flowers, and it trod on a crystal-clear Icy Path. A light wisp of snow swirled around it.
It emerged from the Mist Jungle, and the white fog receded to both sides.
Only after the Adventure Group had completely disappeared into the depths of the jungle did the male Blue Ice Deer slowly turn around and return to the Mist Jungle.
However, Instructor Nora and the members of the Adventure Group were unaware of all this.
When everyone returned to Tines Village, the caravan had already completed the transaction with the villagers. Commander Sindji was camping outside the village, preparing to rest for the night before setting off for the next village the next morning.