Things Aren't Looking Good

Furthermore, it wasn't just that. <Lin Yun> also learned from the villagers that a team of adventurers had arrived, and they were an <Iron>-ranked party. Compared to their own <Porcelain>-ranked party, the level 8 <Iron> party was undoubtedly stronger.

According to the villagers, the <Iron> party was composed entirely of women: a human <Goddess Priestess>, an <Elf> <Magician>, a human Paladin, and a <Halfling> Ranger. It was a fairly complete party composition. From the villagers' words, <Lin Yun> also learned that this group had made what were theoretically sufficient preparations for battle.

Just...

<Lin Yun> narrowed his eyes slightly. Although his memory was a bit hazy, he clearly remembered that this <Iron> party had failed. Based on his estimation, the <Iron> party should have had a strength of around level 4 or 5, because in a sense, <Porcelain> rank was just a transitional level.

According to official accounts, this <Iron> party could theoretically hold its own against a Silver-ranked adventurer in group combat, meaning they had a combat power of around level 10. While the presence of a Holy Father was the most crucial factor, it was still enough to gauge their combat strength.

It was also possible that only the captain was level 5, and the other members were level 4. Otherwise, in the original work, it felt like a simple fireball spell would have resolved the situation. Well, there was also the element of rescuing hostages, but that didn't seem right either, as there seemed to be only one hostage.

The outcome in the original work was very bad.

If <Lin Yun> remembered correctly, this party seemed to have failed because there were too many <Elf> traps around the fortress, which had exhausted the <Halfling> Ranger. Then, as they were about to reach the fortress, they saw the hostage lying on the ground. In a moment of excitement, they foolishly charged forward, triggering a trap below, which in turn woke up the sleeping <Goblin>. They were then surrounded by a large number of <Goblin>. The Paladin, who was supposed to be the tank, was knocked unconscious by a rock thrown from behind with a sling, suspected to be a critical hit.

The detailed circumstances were basically not clearly explained in the novel, manga, or anime. After all, the existence of this <Iron> party was solely to highlight how terrifying <Goblin Slayer> was.

Moreover, if anything, part of the reason <Goblin Slayer> was so successful was that the <Halfling> Ranger had already disarmed most of the traps. Although <Goblin Slayer> himself could disarm traps, it would obviously take a lot of time.

And this was a world without <Goblin Slayer>, meaning <Goblin Slayer> wouldn't come, and this village would...

<Lin Yun> frowned and thought for a moment. He finally decided that they had to fight, but how they would fight needed careful consideration. However, the most important thing to do right now was this.

"<Infeine>. Can you still run? Do you know tracking skills?" <Lin Yun> turned his head and asked the centaur.

"Of course, I can run all day. And I taught that child tracking skills," the centaur said proudly, flexing his muscles.

... <Lin Yun> really didn't want to complain about how the tracking skills he taught led to him getting lost.

"Then this matter can only be entrusted to you. Here are three potions. First, heal yourself and restore your stamina, then go to the forest to find those four adventurers. We will catch up as quickly as possible. After all, more people are always good, aren't they? Do you have 'Grease'?" <Lin Yun> patted <Bard>'s shoulder and said.

<Bard>'s spells were a bit different from <Lin Yun>'s <Priest> spells. <Priest> learned all divine arts as soon as they reached the appropriate level, as they had connections. However, they required preparation, much like telling your dad, "Dad, I want this, this, and this."

But <Bard> was a bit different. Being versatile, they could learn to chant a series of spells and didn't need preparation. Although most of the time, they could only cast one or two spells, and their spell slots were fewer compared to wizards and <Priest>s.

The reason <Bard> was chosen was simply because... <Lin Yun> didn't know the 'Grease' spell.

Hearing <Lin Yun>'s words, <Bard>'s expression turned a bit grim. It wasn't that he didn't have the 'Grease' spell. In fact, while it might be difficult to use in a game, in reality, no experienced player would overlook its difference, because the effect of 'Grease' could nearly double the fastest speed of a normal human adventurer in one go.

Generally speaking, a normal human adventurer, without running, could move 10 meters in 6 seconds. If charging, they could move 20 meters in 6 seconds. If running, they could move 40 meters in 6 seconds. This might not seem like much, but remember, these were adventurers, usually carrying a lot of weight. Being able to achieve such results was already impressive.

The effect of the 'Grease' spell was to double this base. Simply put, without full-speed running, they could achieve 20 meters in 6 seconds. If charging, it would be 40 meters in 6 seconds, and if running, it would be a direct 80 meters. Think about how Usain Bolt needs nearly 10 seconds to run 100 meters, and this person, almost fully armed, could cover 80 meters in 6 seconds. The remaining 20 meters would clearly not take 3 seconds.

It should also be noted that a centaur's base speed was not 10 meters in 6 seconds like humans, but 13 meters in 6 seconds. And because the centaur was also a barbarian, they were even stronger among their race, possessing a movement speed of 16 meters in 6 seconds. The 'Grease' spell added 10 meters of movement speed per 6 seconds to the original base, bringing the total to 26 meters. With a quadrupedal movement, the centaur's full speed reached 104 meters in 6 seconds. This was equivalent to a car traveling at over 60 kilometers per hour. Well, it still didn't seem that impressive.

However, in this era, at least this speed was considered very fast.

In any case, the reason <Bard>'s expression was so bad was that he was only level 2. He had only two level 1 spell slots, and unlike <Lin Yun> and <Female Mage>, <Bard>'s spells could not be stored in magical items or through exceptional ability to have more spell slots. So he had exactly two level 1 spell slots and no more.

Now, if he used 'Grease' once, he would only have one level 1 spell slot left. For a <Bard>, this was a bit too dangerous.

In response, <Lin Yun> said nothing and nodded to the centaur.

The centaur didn't know what the 'Grease' spell was, but he only needed to know that it concerned his sister's life, and possibly something more important. That was enough.

Just as the centaur turned to run, <Bard> raised his hand. "Wait, I'll cast 'Grease' for you now." Saying this, <Bard> waved his hand and uttered some strange sounds, at least incomprehensible to <Lin Yun>. Then a faint light appeared on the centaur.

"Oh, I feel much lighter now, like I can run even more easily." The centaur unconsciously shook his hooves, feeling as refreshed as if he had just received a foot massage.

"Remember, once you find them, don't act rashly. The number of <Goblin> might be more than they imagine. Have them wait for us," <Lin Yun> said with a serious expression, however... because he was wearing a full-face helmet, no one could see it.

"Understood." The centaur pawed the ground impatiently and charged in the direction the villagers had indicated. It seemed that because he was running too fast, the dust from his hooves was kicked up and landed directly in front of <Lin Yun>. Fortunately, there was no mud, otherwise, it might have splattered on <Lin Yun>'s face. Well, <Lin Yun> might have needed to make a Dexterity saving throw if that were the case...

"Alright, let's go too," <Lin Yun> said to the others.

"Yes," <Young Warrior> and the others responded involuntarily. <Bard> felt out of place at this moment. Although... well, he had felt out of place from the beginning. While he was a bit more relaxed with <Young Warrior>, he had maintained a vigilant attitude towards the others, after all... he was an old player.

Just as <Lin Yun> had also been constantly wary of him.

In a way, in most <Dungeons & Dragons> games, outsmarting NPCs was just the basic stuff. Outsmarting PCs, or the players themselves, was the true essence of <Dungeons & Dragons>... probably.

The main reason was the imbalance of information. Players knew, but characters in the game didn't necessarily. Under the player's guidance, problems would arise. Then there was the issue of player alignment. Undoubtedly, an evil-aligned person would definitely dislike a good-aligned person. Although a good-aligned person wouldn't necessarily dislike an evil-aligned person, at most, they would feel reluctant or displeased. Chaotic alignments were often full of goofballs, leading to endless fun. Well, more often than not, it led to endless trouble. Basically, the engine of party wipes in tabletop RPGs was usually those chaotic evil goofballs.

This was also why many <Dungeon Master>s disliked allowing chaotic evil alignments. On one hand, it disrupted the party's atmosphere and easily led the plot in unintended directions. Furthermore, most players also disliked chaotic evil players, although... playing a chaotic evil character was really fun. Cough, cough, cough.

In short, regardless of their alignment, old players first needed to do one thing: distinguish whether the player facing them was chaotic evil or not. Of course, it wasn't impossible for two chaotic evil players to sing and dance together, but more often than not, they would backstab each other as a sign of respect.

After all, there were always those who pretended to be loyal. If not for spoilers, who would know that a certain Father would turn out to be a tax evader? If not for spoilers, who would know that a seemingly honest bespectacled person, after taking off his glasses and changing his hairstyle, was actually an chuunibyou? Who would have known? So it was better to be cautious. This was a life at stake.

(Almost forgot to mention, we're entering the real plot now. I wonder if anyone can tell. Admire my divine talent, hahahahaha. There should be a picture of the "Joker" here.)