Profits

Charles swung his iron shield with nearly all his strength, smashing aside the weapon the goblin was wielding and knocking the powerful creature down in a single blow.

Even in the dim light, several goblin teeth and fragments could be seen flying through the air.

This goblin, whose body was nearly as robust as a knight's, had lost its nerve and was sent sprawling by a single blow from Charles's iron shield.

Dizzy and disoriented, it lay on the ground, unable to get back up.

This ambush began swiftly and ended just as swiftly.

All the ordinary goblins were killed, leaving only those with knight-level strength.

Although the goblins had become considerably stronger, their combat skills and weapons were more than eight streets behind those of the wizard apprentices.

Five knight-level goblins were captured alive. One was hacked to death because they had failed to hold back, while all the others were knocked down.

The five goblins would yield fifteen Magic Stones.

That was quite a good return. Compared to Charles's work at the Magic Beast slaughterhouse, the profits were far higher.

Moreover, he had killed three goblins himself, gaining three Soul Coins as well as goblin ears as spoils of war.

Coming into the sewers had been the right choice. One group of goblins, three kinds of profit.

They dragged the bodies to the rear. There was no way to conceal the bloodstains, but goblins generally did not care about such things.

The captured goblins were all knocked unconscious, secured with iron chains, gagged, and thrown to the back to be taken away together after everything was over.

The bait remained effective for quite a while.

More than an hour later, another small group of goblins arrived, though there were slightly fewer this time.

There were only twelve or thirteen of them, and only a few seemed particularly strong.

As the torches were lit, illuminating the dark sewers, the six wizard apprentices, Charles among them, charged out once more.

Charles cast Bone Needle Bee, killing three goblins again.

One goblin was so frightened that it turned and ran, babbling gibberish without pause.

But Charles had no intention of letting it escape. He took long strides after it, swung his longsword, and chopped its head clean off.

Captured goblins were team profits, but goblins he killed and whose ears he cut off were his own profits.

In one night, Charles had killed seven goblins. If he killed a few more, he could save up enough for one Magic Stone.

When he returned to the original spot, the captured goblins had all been tied up.

Beck looked at the chaotic surroundings and the heavy stench of blood. "Let's call it here tonight. No goblins will probably come to this place again anytime soon."

The others had no objections. They had already caught eight knight-level goblins tonight, worth more than twenty Magic Stones.

They returned to the courtyard aboveground and locked all the goblins in iron cages.

This goblin-capturing job followed a day-and-night rhythm. Only at night would the goblins underground relax their guard.

During the day, the goblins below all hid away.

The sewers beneath the city district stretched in every direction. Some had not even been built by people, but had originally been underground caves in the surrounding area.

During the day, those hiding goblins returned to their nests, making them truly difficult to clear out.

The powerful disdained clearing out these goblins. Going deep underground brought little profit, and the sewers stank to high heaven.

For weak people like Charles and his group, if they formed a team, there would not be much money to divide among them.

With too few people, they could easily deal with a dozen or twenty goblins.

But if they encountered several dozen or even a hundred, even Charles's little team would have to flee with their heads in their hands.

The goblins and all sorts of other messy things beneath the city district had grown rampant. In Charles's estimation, aside from the issue of low returns—

It was quite possible that Isata's indulgence had something to do with it.

After all, this terrain was like a complex biological settlement where mutations easily arose.

Wizards were all like mad scientists. How could they possibly spend the effort to clean up a place like this, where research projects could so easily produce specimens?

They rested during the day and continued descending into the sewers to hunt goblins at night.

The second day's hunt was just as smooth. This time, they caught nine goblins, and the returns remained steady.

The four days of goblin-catching work soon came to an end, and they were fortunate enough to catch a slightly mutated goblin.

The profits were much higher than before.

This time, as a newcomer, Charles received eighteen Magic Stones in total.

Beck and the other two veteran members received even more.

That gave Charles other ideas. As long as he earned a few more Magic Stones, he could venture into the sewers alone and hunt goblins by himself.

He did not necessarily have to capture goblins. He could simply kill them, cut off their ears, and exchange them for bounties.

This time, Charles had killed more than thirty goblins in total, enough to exchange for three Magic Stones.

Though he had earned it with his life on the edge of a blade, money was money.

This rate of return was far better than working at the Magic Beast slaughterhouse.

Not only did it earn more Magic Stones, it also earned more Soul Coins.

Charles returned to his residence and took stock of his current combat strength.

He believed he could hunt alone as well, earning however much he could.

He simply resigned from the Magic Beast slaughterhouse, took his equipment, and went to the lower city district.

After renting a house with a courtyard there, he began studying how to start his own business.

In District Twelve of Isata, there was considerable demand for goblin slaves and experimental subjects.

Besides the Fenny's Hand society, quite a few other societies also handled this line of business.

Even within Fenny's Hand itself, there was more than one task seeking goblin experimental subjects.

By comparison, not many people took on this kind of task.

The sewers simply stank too badly, and there was some danger involved as well.

Risking one's life on the edge of a blade could make money, but when it came to actually doing it, few were willing.

After all, one only had one life.

Some people truly driven into a corner wanted to do it, but they might not even be capable of taking on this work.

They could only choose even more dangerous drug trials, or even undergo modifications.

There was no way Charles would ever do that kind of work.

After settling his wages from the Magic Beast slaughterhouse and adding the gains from this mission, Charles bought another new wizard spell from the Fenny's Hand society: Serpentine Glide!

It was a zero-ring wizard spell that enhanced mobility.

After successfully casting it, Charles's movement speed would increase, and his running path would sway irregularly, making it harder for enemies' ranged attacks to lock onto him.

A lone wolf's actions were certainly completely different from fighting in a group.

A lone wolf's profits were undoubtedly higher, but it was also more dangerous. Thus, defensive, escape, and even healing and recovery spells were all necessary.

But Charles was short on funds at the moment. He could only buy one for now, then add the rest of the spells once he made more money.