Efficient Cooperation [Seeking Follow-up Reads!]

Gauss, who was hiding, had already silently activated Mage Hand.

Because they were worried about their scent giving them away, the remaining team members hid relatively far away.

Only Gauss, due to the casting range limitation of Mage Hand, stayed within a ten-meter radius.

However, Meva had already taken care of his hiding spot and scent concealment.

So, the six Goblins approaching were not discovering anything unusual.

Walking up to the gray rabbit, one of the Goblins cautiously threw a stone in the direction of the gray rabbit.

"Plop!"

The stone landed beside the gray rabbit, and still, nothing happened.

Seeing this, the Goblin clearly relaxed a lot.

They observed their surroundings one by one, confirming that there were no other creatures within a few meters of the open area, and then eagerly came under the tree.

The largest among them, the leader Goblin, grabbed the gray rabbit with both hands.

An excited and cruel smile appeared on its face, murky saliva dripping from its thick lips. With the force of its yellowed toenails, the dying gray rabbit was choked to death.

"Screech! Screech!"

The other Goblins crowded around, jumping and screeching around the gray rabbit in the leader Goblin's hands.

It seemed this free food made them very happy.

After all, Goblins were omnivores, and they didn't always have meat to eat.

Before they could even celebrate.

"Click!"

A faint sound of a triggered mechanism rang out.

As if hearing the sound, the Goblins looked up in the direction of the noise.

What they saw was a large net rapidly descending.

The capture net was released by the mechanism after being triggered by Mage Hand.

With the weighted magnets on the edges of the net, it fell with incredible speed.

In the blink of an eye, it was above the Goblins' heads.

The Goblins, realizing what was happening, were just about to flee, but it was clearly too late.

Clustered together and unable to escape in time, the Goblins were directly covered by the large net.

The net tightened like a closing pocket, trapping the Goblins, thanks to the special closing mechanism driven by the magnets.

"Screech! Screech!"

"Screech!"

The iron thorns wrapped around the mesh dug into the Goblins' bodies, causing them to scream in pain instantly.

Furthermore, as they instinctively struggled, the disturbed capture net became entangled, and the various iron thorns dug deeper into their flesh. The more they struggled, the tighter it became, trapping them more securely.

At the same time, the poison pre-applied to the iron thorns began to take effect.

"That was it?"

Gauss, who was closest, saw it most clearly.

The mechanism created by Meva, the Rogue apprentice, was even more effective than he had anticipated.

A group of Goblins, enough to cause a little trouble, were directly trapped.

However, he wasn't sure how long it would hold them.

Gauss had already noticed a few Goblins enduring the pain and starting to use their weapons to cut at the net.

The rest of the Night Owl Squad emerged from their hiding places.

However, none of them were as fast as Gauss, who was closest and responsible for triggering the mechanism.

While they were still on their way, Gauss was already striding forward, Rapier in hand, charging towards the Goblins.

It was an excellent opportunity for a kill, and he wasn't about to miss it.

Walking up to the trapped Goblins, the Rapier in his hand mercilessly and swiftly stabbed at their vital points.

Every stab drew blood!

Each thrust left a bloody hole on their bodies, from which thick, foul-smelling blood gushed out like a spring.

He felt no emotion towards the Goblins, not even pity.

The sword in his hand was as cold as a fish-gutting knife.

[Killed Goblin *1] [Total Monsters Killed: 13] [Total Monsters Killed: 14]

"Total monsters killed: 15"

"Total monsters killed: 18"

Six goblins, under Gauss's relentless rapier, all became cumulative kill counts on his adventurer's log.

He was one step closer to the next stage's goal of fifty.

And he wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but after killing the six goblins, the rapier he wielded in his hand felt significantly more natural and coordinated.

The extra synergy felt as if he had practiced with the rapier for several extra days out of nowhere.

After Gauss's swift "slaughter" of the goblins concluded, the others arrived at the trap's location, albeit belatedly.

Considering there was no emergency, everyone hadn't rushed their approach.

Furthermore, seeing that Gauss had already drawn his blade, the group was even less hurried.

Who killed them didn't matter, and Gauss's rapier was unlikely to damage Meva's net.

"Gauss, let's be clear, we don't distribute quest rewards based on the number of monsters killed," Leven said with a half-joking tone.

"While you did have a hand in triggering the mechanism, you can't claim all the quest rewards for these six goblins, can you?"

"Understood," Gauss nodded, feeling quite pleased. He had already received the reward he wanted most; everything else was a bonus, and he wouldn't be shortchanged on the quest rewards anyway.

"I just wanted to use the goblins to hone my sword skills," he explained casually.

He was quite happy internally. Compared to the goblins he had painstakingly killed in Birch Village last time, accumulating these six kills felt like a gift, effortless.

This was all thanks to the traps they had set up in advance.

Gauss silently took note.

If tools and traps were used wisely, even he alone could easily annihilate a small goblin group without taking any damage?

His specialty was in creating beast traps, which were small in scale. For this kind of large-scale capture trap, he might need to learn from Meva.

As a half-baked hunter, his trap-making skills were clearly inferior to Meva's, who was a rogue apprentice.

Thinking this, he suddenly understood why Meva, despite being somewhat aloof and disliking conversation within the party, held such a stable position.

Every team needed someone like her: a versatile individual capable of reconnaissance, crafting traps and poisons, and providing offensive support from the flanks with daggers and hand crossbows during combat.

It was possible that this gloomy figure cloaked in a hood might actually be the true core of the Night Owl Squad.

Gauss glanced over at Meva, who had silently and stealthily rejoined the group.

My own squad will need to recruit a strong rogue in the future, Gauss thought to himself.

As he imagined himself effortlessly picking off kills like he had just done, a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

This sudden smile sent a shiver down Doyle's spine as he observed Gauss from the side.

He just killed a few defenseless goblins, why is he smiling so happily? Is this Gauss guy a psycho? Or does he have some dark past, like a deep-seated hatred for goblins?

Doyle couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

"Alright everyone, prepare for frontal engagement," Leven suddenly announced, reminding the group. "The enemy should be here soon."

"Understood."

"Understood."

"Received." Gauss's heart tightened, and he reined in his wandering thoughts.

The commotion they had just created—the sound of the net falling, their footsteps, and the prolonged, agonizing cries of the goblins—would undoubtedly alert the goblins in the ruins.

Meva's reconnaissance indicated fifteen to twenty-two goblins.

Subtracting the six he had already killed, there were likely nine to sixteen remaining.

While he was contemplating this, the group had already formed their battle formation, standing ready.

Not long after, a cacophony of footsteps echoed from the distance.

A group of goblins arrived on the scene.

Five goblins, wielding small wooden shields and clubs, formed the vanguard, followed by three goblins carrying stone spears and two goblins armed with steel blades.

The last four archer goblins trailed behind the group, clearly preparing to find advantageous positions for their shots.

A total of fourteen goblins.

Although there were no abnormal individuals like those encountered in Birch Village last time, this group of goblins exhibited much better discipline and even possessed a simple yet complete division of labor.

The threat posed by the four archer goblins, in particular, could not be entirely ignored.

This was the level of threat a goblin tribe of nearly twenty should possess. The goblins in Birch Village last time were merely the result of two small groups merging; apart from one abnormally large goblin, they hadn't had time to develop significant combat power.

After observing the number and formation of the goblins from afar, Leven quickly laid out their strategy.

"Meva, Oliver. You two handle the archer goblins. We'll take the front line."

"If needed, I can provide ranged support with Magic Missile," Gauss added, as he also needed practical skill training.

To become stronger, he would also seize opportunities in battle to go for the kill. After all, his role in the team, besides casting Magic Missile to eliminate core enemies, was that of a free agent the rest of the time.

Who says going for the kill isn't a form of support?

"Alright, thank you."

"Then everyone, prepare for battle!"

"Kill them all!!"

Leven slammed his oak greatshield in front of him, and everyone instantly entered combat mode.

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