"D20+2+3=24, Success." Leading four villagers armed with pitchforks and shovels to fight the Witch Hunter, Lin Yun and the others headed toward the mine. As usual, Lin Yun stayed alert the entire way. Before long, he triggered a Perception check.
Lin Yun hurriedly raised his hand, signaling everyone following behind him to stay alert.
With his Perception reaching 24, Lin Yun easily spotted two goblins standing on a cliff at the edge of a mountain amid the forest. Clearly, they were scouts.
Fortunately, these two scouts were not soldiers from some country whose troops could lie motionless in the snow at minus forty degrees and still remember to charge even after dying. The two of them were lazy and careless, not doing their scouting properly at all.
Thus, for the moment, they failed to notice Lin Yun and the others. This was partly thanks to the dense forest, and partly because Lin Yun's almost hawk-eyed Perception check was high enough. If Lin Yun had estimated correctly, the DC for this Perception check had to be at least 20.
After gathering everyone together, Lin Yun asked the Female Mage, "What spells did you prepare today?"
"Uh, Magic Missile, Burning Hands, Burning Hands, Color Spray." Adjusting her glasses, the Female Mage answered calmly.
"..." Lin Yun blinked, completely dumbfounded. What was going on? Was she an all-out damage mage? "Um, may I ask if you're an Evocation Specialist?" Lin Yun's mouth twitched beneath his helmet.
"No. More precisely, I'm a School of Fusion Wizard." The Female Mage adjusted her glasses again, her voice full of pride.
"..." Lin Yun silently decided not to say anything. She was way too formidable.
That explained why she had shut down like that yesterday. Lin Yun remembered that even without Spell Slots, a Wizard still had an ability similar to his Channel Divinity. For example, a Wizard from the School of Evocation could create a D4 force missile to attack an enemy. It had a 100% hit rate and automatically tracked its target.
It could be used at least three times a day. Thanks to the School of Evocation's special ability, Evocation spells that dealt damage could add half the Wizard's level to their damage. This was called Spell Sharpening, so the damage was actually decent—especially with that 100% hit rate.
As for the School of Fusion... it was a branch of the School of Evocation. Its members generally claimed that they were the true Evocation Wizards, because they could freely change the damage type of elemental Evocation spells. Burning Hands, for instance, could normally only deal fire damage, but the School of Fusion could convert it into another type of energy.
They could turn it into Lightning Hands or something similar. Because of this, the School of Fusion believed that it was the school that truly mastered the elements, and looked down on the School of Evocation...
Lin Yun had a strange feeling. Seriously, how were you this brave? You didn't take Mage Armor or Shield. What exactly were you planning to do?
"Cough, all right. Since that's the case, can you see those two goblins over there?" Lin Yun wore a strange smile, though his helmet concealed his face.
"Hmm." Squinting, the Female Mage stared for a while before finally spotting them. "So, what do you want to do? At this distance, my Magic Missile can barely reach them, but it can only hit one."
"That's enough." Lin Yun nodded, estimated the distance, and then said to the Female Fighter, "Stay here and protect the villagers. As for the rest of you, come with me. Give him the Light Crossbow. We'll move a little closer and prepare an ambush."
Lin Yun had the Female Mage hand her Light Crossbow to the young warrior. Then, together with the young warrior, the Female Mage, and the Goddess Priestess, he moved to a spot about twenty meters from the goblins.
"Get ready and wait for my signal. Use Magic Missile to kill the goblin on the left. You two, prepare to shoot the goblin on the right. I'll be ready to support you at any time." Lin Yun spoke in a slightly low voice.
The Goddess Priestess and the young warrior nodded nervously. The Female Mage, meanwhile, was completely calm. Yesterday, she had been embarrassed because she had not brought her Spellbook. Today, she had brought it, so she was invincible. Well, in reality, it was simply because Magic Missile was guaranteed to hit.
Lin Yun said nothing. Once he saw that the young warrior and the Goddess Priestess had their Light Crossbows ready and aimed, he nodded and raised three fingers, slowly counting down.
When he reached one—
The Female Mage began chanting softly and extended her arm. Three Magic Missiles glowing with blue light appeared in her small, gloved hand and surged toward the goblin on the left.
The three Magic Missiles reached the goblin at astonishing speed. They struck its chest, hand, and head, knocking it directly to the ground.
The other goblin, seeing its companion's sudden, horrific fate, stood up in surprise. Then two bolts flew out from the bushes. One arrow struck the tree behind the goblin, while the other grazed past its body... yet failed to injure it in the slightest.
If he could, Lin Yun wanted to slap himself in the face. As expected, giving two rookies with almost no training such high hopes had been a terrible idea.
Fortunately, Lin Yun had prepared for this.
"Take this—Guiding Bolt!" Lin Yun swung the shield on his arm, or rather, the Holy Symbol mounted on it. A meteor-like projectile flew out from the shield and blasted toward the goblin, which was still staring blankly at the two missed bolts in a daze.
"D20+3+2+2=17. Hit." Because of Spellcasting Genius, Lin Yun's spell attack gained another 2. If this still failed to hit, Lin Yun could only prepare for a group battle.
"4D6=13." The damage was all right. After all, it was a 1st-Circle Magic spell.
Lin Yun nearly cried. This was such a waste—it was a 1st-Circle Magic spell! But there was no helping it. Nothing was ready yet, and if they rashly started a battle, the vast forest would leave them exhausted from fighting. They had to settle this first.
After yesterday's battle, Lin Yun realized that he lacked ranged attacks. He did have a ranged spell among his Cantrips, but its damage was too inconsistent. It only dealt D8 damage. It was the Cantrip Sacred Flame, and... well, all he could say was that its power was tremendous.
That Guiding Bolt struck the goblin's head and smashed half of it flat. Lin Yun had no doubt that the next blow would have blown its head apart entirely.
Afterward, Lin Yun and the others waited a little longer. Once they felt that no one would discover them for the time being, they slowly withdrew and regrouped with the villagers and the Female Fighter.
During that time, the young warrior and the Goddess Priestess hurriedly apologized to Lin Yun, saying that they had disappointed him and the like...
They had indeed disappointed him...
"All right. The real battle starts now, so stay focused." Though he felt somewhat helpless inside, Lin Yun still spoke in a steady voice.
"Yes." The two of them answered, perking themselves up somewhat.
"Good. Next, you guard the entrance. Hide to one side, and if any goblins come out to change shifts, cut them down immediately. If there are too many goblins, just run. The rest of us will go to the ventilation shaft." Lin Yun spoke to the young warrior, then turned and nodded at the others.
The young warrior nodded as well and hammered a fist against his heart. Yes, there was no need for him to offer up his heart.
Lin Yun had suddenly thought of a problem. Goblins were stupid, but they were not idiots. Anyone would know that the air inside a mine was stuffy, or at least uncomfortable, and that it would be much more pleasant near the ventilation shaft. Given the goblins' hedonistic nature, there were probably a whole bunch of them staying beside the ventilation shaft.
According to the villagers, since lives were at stake, there was a passage from the main tunnel leading directly to the ventilation shaft. That meant they might have another battle there.
The villagers led them to a half-open cliff. There was an obvious man-made cavern there, which should be the ventilation shaft. On the other side was a place that looked like a crack. That was the hidden passage—or what could be called the back door.
If someone stood beside the ventilation shaft and listened carefully, they could hear faint waves of commotion from below. It was just as Lin Yun had expected: some goblins had chosen to station themselves beneath the ventilation shaft—or rather, to settle there.
Lin Yun nodded at the villagers. Then he and the others entered the hidden crack and lay in ambush, ready to deal with any goblins that charged up.
Seeing that Lin Yun and the others were ready, the villagers exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and began picking up their shovels. They started digging up the earth around the ventilation shaft, apparently intending to fill it in.
At first, everything went smoothly. But after about ten minutes, some soil may have fallen down and attracted the goblins' attention. Then, amid a loud shout, a group of goblins was sent up to their deaths.
Before you continue