Lost in the Forest

"This guy is sometimes so thoughtful it makes me feel guilty."

Opening the lid of the clay pot, Hopp picked up the chopsticks and began to eat heartily.

In the end, she didn't even spare the soup, picking up the pot and draining it in one gulp.

Quietly opening the door to check on Karl's condition, and finding him fast asleep as usual, Hopp turned and walked out of the wooden house.

The scenery outside the wooden house hadn't changed. Hopp struck a pose and began to train in the open space.

Around six o'clock, Karl woke up from his dream.

Hearing the commotion outside, he quickly walked out of the house and discussed the intelligence he had gathered while Hopp was unconscious.

"What?! There's a Mind Flayer in this forest!"

Hearing that there was a Mind Flayer base deep in the woods, Hopp's mood was complicated.

The current camp was her choice, and she hadn't expected to become neighbors with a hidden Mind Flayer base.

"And the goblin tribes in that canyon, their Dire Goblins and Hobgoblins seem to have returned. I saw the Mind Flayer confronting them head-on at the edge of the forest. I don't know how things are going now."

As he spoke, Karl rubbed his neck.

Seeing Karl twisting his neck, Hopp asked with concern, "Stiff neck?"

"It's nothing, it should be fine later. What do we do next? Play it safe, or go on the offensive?"

With her arms crossed, Hopp lowered her head and pondered for a moment.

"I think it's better to play it safe. Neither the Mind Flayer nor the goblin tribes are opponents we can confront directly right now. Let's observe the situation first."

While Karl and Hopp were discussing things over here, in another part of the forest, the goblin barbarians of the Rage Tribe had almost completely mobilized, preparing to hunt the Mind Flayer in the woods.

Walking through the forest, the goblin legion wandered around like headless flies.

When they entered the forest, they took a detour out of fear of an ambush.

As a result, they couldn't find any clues leading to the Mind Flayer's base.

To search for their target, the current chief in charge of the Rage Tribe split his forces, attempting to find the target through a scattershot approach.

This approach made it seem as if they had completely forgotten why they had detoured when they first entered the forest.

"Hey! Brother, look ahead, what is that thing?"

Near a pool of water in the forest, a squad of three Dire Goblin barbarians was trying to find clues to the Mind Flayer's base.

But as they passed by, one of the Dire Goblins in the squad suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the nearby pool.

The remaining two Dire Goblins immediately became alert. The three stood shoulder to shoulder, cautiously approaching the pool.

The bioluminescent mushrooms around were brighter than in other places, but the pool itself was like a deep, dark mouth, so dark that its bottom could not be seen.

It was unwise to approach such a place rashly, but these three Dire Goblins actually leaned their heads over, trying to find the "strange thing" that their companion had just seen in the water.

Just then, the surrounding bioluminescent mushrooms suddenly began to sway.

Several Brain Eaters fell from the tops of the mushrooms, their bodies surrounded by psionic fluctuations as they fell.

The three Dire Goblins who had leaned over immediately stared blankly.

But just as two of the Brain Eaters were about to fall onto the Dire Goblins, one of the Dire Goblins suddenly activated its rage.

"Swish!"

A sharp metal battle axe was swung up from below, and one Brain Eater was instantly cut in half.

The remaining Brain Eaters, seeing that they had lost control, quickly released their psionic energy again, trying to hinder the opponent's actions.

However, barbarians with the Berserker subclass were immune to control after level 6. Thus, with a horizontal slash from this Dire Goblin, two more Brain Eaters died on the spot.

"Ha! You disgusting things! Die!"

Wielding his weapon, the Dire Goblin with bloodshot eyes was slaughtering madly under the effect of his "no-self rage" trait.

But in a corner he didn't notice, one Brain Eater suddenly vanished amidst the psionic fluctuations.

At the same time, one of the Dire Goblins who had been hypnotized by psionic energy blinked and regained its ability to move.

Seeing its companion awaken, the Dire Goblin in a rage immediately contracted its defenses.

Soon, the rage ended, and it entered a state of exhaustion.

"There are still a few of these disgusting things left. You take your time and kill them when you get the chance! I'll go see how that guy is..."

As he was speaking, the head of a battle axe suddenly struck the Dire Goblin's chest.

And the one holding the handle of this battle axe was the Dire Goblin who had just regained its ability to move.

Faint psionic fluctuations rippled from its eyes and the surroundings. Looking at the disbelieving gaze of its "companion" as it died, "it" tilted its head, its lips curving into a chilling smile.

After wandering around the forest for half a day, the entire goblin force had found nothing.

Just as the Hobgoblin chief's mood was becoming increasingly anxious, a squad that had been sent out returned, saying they had found a dead beast on the road, suspected to be the work of a Mind Flayer.

The Goblin Chieftain immediately dispatched someone to recall the rest of the forces and ordered them to advance with the scouting party.

However, a party composed of barbarian goblins could hardly be expected to maintain strict discipline. Soon, noisy sounds echoed through the woods, startling the beasts and sending them scattering.

This commotion naturally alerted Karl and Hopp.

In fact, while the goblin party was searching around, one of their squads had come within 500 meters of Karl and Hopp's camp.

Neither of them had expected that just after they'd discussed their counter-strategy, one of the main players would walk right past their doorstep.

If Karl's gear hadn't been unfinished, the two of them would have certainly gone down to join the fun.

"Chieftain! Ahead! This is where I found the tracks!"

At the forefront of the goblin party, a Dire Goblin with thick, bushy fur led the way towards a pool of water in the woods.

Faint psionic fluctuations occasionally flickered around him, but since none of the goblins present knew psionics, no one noticed.

"Excellent! Once we find the Mind Flayer's base and seize the treasures within, you'll get the highest credit!"

The Goblin Chieftain clapped the other's back heavily with a palm as large as a fan, then strode forward, carrying a Great Axe of Fury.

Within the mushroom patches of the forest, Brain Eaters, resembling living brains, darted quickly through them.

These were all flawed creations made by the Mind Flayer and other Brain Eaters using the surrounding animals after returning to their base. Although their abilities were inferior to ordinary Brain Eaters, they could serve as scouts, helping the Mind Flayer keep track of the situation in the woods.

And the Dire Goblin leading the way was, of course, the one whose brain had been replaced by a Brain Eater earlier.