Mutant Goblin

After summoning the servants, Charles dispelled the witchcraft effects and had them bind the goblins with chains.

The Web Spell would not last very long. Even if Charles did not dispel it, it could only hold for two or three minutes at most.

The Stunning Spell lasted a little longer. If it was not disturbed or awakened, it could last for at least ten-odd minutes.

That was enough time for the servants to tie up all the goblins and take them away.

The corpses of ordinary goblins were thrown into the sewers, while qualified goblins were taken away.

As for Charles, he seized the gap to enter a shallow meditative state and quickly restore his magic power.

Now that he had over a dozen rats serving as scouting sentries, things had become much more convenient for Charles.

Once he saved up a few more Magic Stones, Charles planned to learn some zero-ring witchcraft for alerting or sentry duties.

In Isata, and even within Fenny's Hand, zero-ring witchcraft was the most numerous category. There were probably no fewer than tens of thousands of them.

Zero-ring witchcraft was the rudimentary version of many spells.

Although zero-ring witchcraft was not especially powerful, there was enough of it that, whatever function one wanted, witchcraft could accomplish it.

These spells had all been developed by wizards over long years, and there was every kind of strange and bizarre witchcraft imaginable.

There were even more secret little spells that, due to their limited circulation, had ultimately vanished into the currents of history.

Just as Charles was meditating shallowly, a black-skinned rat dashed back. Clinging to Charles's boot, it squeaked nonstop.

Charles opened his eyes. He had not been disturbed.

Shallow meditation restored magic power and spiritual power slowly, but its advantage was that it could be interrupted at any time, and one could still sense changes in the surroundings.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

"A goblin!"

After setting down a piece of jerky, Charles brushed the black-skinned rat aside.

Under normal circumstances, Charles could crush a single goblin with a casual flick of his hand.

So this time was no different. He quietly waited for the goblin to arrive.

But when the goblin appeared, Charles's eyes suddenly widened!

This goblin was completely different from all the others. Mushrooms of all sizes grew from its body.

Some slender mushrooms sprouted from every part of its body.

At first, Charles had thought they were clothing draped over the goblin, or perhaps some kind of hair.

But as the goblin drew closer, under Dim Vision, the things growing on its body made Charles's fingers clench involuntarily.

This goblin was clearly taller than the others. Even knight-level goblins were generally no more than 1.6 meters tall.

This one was at least 1.8 meters tall, broad and burly, with an utterly unrestrained bearing.

Clearly, this goblin had great confidence in its own strength.

This was a subterranean mutant goblin!

In Charles's eyes, this mutant goblin was no longer a goblin, but a pile of walking Magic Stones.

The only question now was how to take it down.

The two were only several dozen meters apart. The goblin, originally relaxed, caught the scent of goblin blood and brain matter on the ground.

Goblins were omnivorous creatures. Eating the corpses of their own kind was not something they found unacceptable.

No one knew the scent of their own kind better than they did.

At once, the goblin entered a state of alert.

It gripped an ash-white bone club in its hand, its eyes sweeping in every direction.

Then, before Charles could react, it locked onto his position.

"Roar!"

The moment Charles met the goblin's gaze, he felt that things were going badly.

Sure enough, when you stared at a goblin, the goblin stared back at you.

Roaring, the goblin charged at Charles. Now, whether he wanted to fight or not, he had to fight.

Charles swiftly formed runes and a spell model in his mind.

Greased Ground!

The spell landed directly in the goblin's charging path.

The goblin's size-42 foot stepped onto it and immediately slipped.

"Crack!"

The charging mutant goblin's front leg slipped, forcing it into a full split.

"Awooo!!"

Those who heard it would weep; those who listened would shudder!

But Charles did not dare pause. His next spell was already prepared.

Bone Needle Bee!

Three sharp bone spikes shot out one after another. Charles targeted every one of them at the mutant goblin's kneecaps.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The scattered Bone Needle Bees struck the mutant goblin's knees as though they had hit tough old oxhide, achieving practically nothing.

Damn!

Charles was greatly shocked.

When Bone Needle Bee had dealt with the other goblins before, every shot had struck true. This was the first time it had failed to pierce through.

His most commonly used spell had no effect, and Charles instantly lost his confidence.

He hurriedly prepared another spell.

Web Bomb!

A white Web Bomb struck the mutant goblin. The web swiftly enveloped it, sticky white threads binding the goblin.

But the mutant goblin roared with extraordinary ferocity and tore the web apart.

This meant the web had little effect on the mutant goblin as well.

This mutant goblin was simply too strong. The control effects of zero-ring witchcraft were greatly diminished against it.

Only the initial Greased Ground had caught the goblin off guard and made it pull something down there. Even now, it limped as it charged.

But that only made the mutant goblin exceptionally enraged, and it roared again and again.

Seeing that things were not right, Charles first cast Serpentine Glide on himself.

As he fled, he kept watching the mutant goblin, still unwilling to give up on capturing it.

Then the mutant goblin chasing behind him saw Charles's speed and directly hurled the wooden club in its hand.

The club sliced through the air with a whistling roar as it smashed toward Charles.

Fortunately, the mutant goblin's throw was inaccurate, and Serpentine Glide also had a confusing effect.

"Boom!"

The wooden club slammed into the wall beside Charles, shattering into countless fragments. Luckily, Charles had been wearing light armor all along, so he was not injured.

As Charles ran, he realized that the goblin simply could not catch up to him.

That made Charles's thoughts stir once more.

He ran while looking back. The mutant goblin was chasing him while clutching its crotch.

After surveying the surrounding terrain, Charles cast Greased Ground again.

The mutant goblin remembered the meal but not the beating and stepped onto the Greased Ground once more.

"Thud!"

This time, its luck was even worse. It fell flat on its face and plunged into the sewer.

"Splash!"

The goblin behind him roared furiously as it struggled to crawl out of the sewer.

By then, Charles had already prepared his next spell.

Acid Missile.

This was Charles's first spell. Its power was not weak, and more importantly, it carried a corrosive effect.

If Bone Needle Bee could not pierce that hide, then he would corrode it with acid.

A greenish glob of slime shot forth and struck the mutant goblin's knee just as it climbed ashore.

"Sizzle!"

"Awoo! Awoo!!"