Goblin Shaman

The clash of metal rang out again and again from the edge of Magic Beast Forest—sharp, heavy, grating. All those sounds tangled together into a small battlefield.

Kana rushed forward, unable to wait, but stopped a short distance from the forest's edge. She activated Eagle Eye Technique, hoping to see what lay hidden among the trees.

Unfortunately, her Eagle Eye Technique was only a low-level spell. It could not see far into the forest, but it revealed more than a hundred Goblins lurking in the trees along its edge, ready to launch an ambush at any moment.

Ordinarily, adult Goblins were not very intelligent. At best, they were like ordinary five- or six-year-old children. Only some Goblin Elites reached the level of a seven- or eight-year-old.

Goblins were also a species that did not take well to orders. Under normal circumstances, even a Goblin leader could not command a Goblin from several thousand meters away. The Goblin simply would not listen.

But these were not normal circumstances. Kana sensed something strange. Before long, Dean and the other two caught up.

"Kana, something's wrong. My Basic Life Detection Magic picked up a group of Goblins nearby just now." Dean had cast Life Detection Magic earlier. Just as he had expected, the Goblins were lying in wait.

"Looks like the silver coins have gone to everyone's heads. They're afraid someone else will kill all the Goblins first. And because they're facing Goblins, they've barely kept their guard up. At most, they're watching out for other Magic Beasts," Kana said after a moment's thought.

She, too, had let the prospect of one silver coin per Goblin cloud her judgment. Fortunately, she had cast Eagle Eye Technique before entering the forest.

"This looks organized no matter how you look at it. The adventurers who went in have probably started taking casualties," Dean said with a frown.

"Dean, do you think we should go in?" Kana hesitated, but he was the only one she could ask now.

Yanxi certainly could not make the decision. Asking her would be as good as asking no one; she was better off focusing on her own job. As for Lamore, Kana covered her face, unwilling to look. The handsome half-elf had been studying escape routes since earlier.

Whenever they had to flee for their lives, Lamore was always the first to run—and so quietly that he had already set off before warning the other three.

"My mentor said that when you can't decide what to do, staying alive comes first. We'd better be careful. Judging by Guildmaster Rukta's tone, this is no ordinary Goblin uprising." Dean had taken Sanderson's teaching to heart. Staying alive came first. Only the living had the luxury of discussing the future.

"Then let's approach carefully. If there's trouble, it'll be easier to pull back. This is an adventure, not a sacrifice!" Kana agreed. Most importantly, the suggestion had come from Dean.

If Lamore had said it, Kana would certainly have argued with him at once, then led the party in to wipe out the Goblins.

Yanxi took the lead, holding up her one-handed shield as she jogged slowly toward the forest's edge. Lamore and Dean followed close behind. Kana stayed a little farther back, using Eagle Eye Technique to watch the area around the party. She kept her bow slightly drawn; at the first sign of a threat, her arrow would protect them.

Closer. The party approached the forest until the nearest tree was less than twenty meters away. Then Yanxi stopped.

"There's... there's a strong smell of blood up ahead. Brother Dean, what do we do?" Yanxi asked. At a time like this, going any farther would almost certainly be dangerous.

"Several groups are fighting nearly a hundred meters ahead. The smaller ones are being slaughtered, but there are so many of them that the people on the other side seem to be dwindling too." From the latest feedback from his Life Detection Magic, Dean had a rough idea of what was happening.

"How many Goblins are left?" Kana asked as she came up from behind.

"At least thirty!" They were at the limit of his Life Detection Magic's range, so Dean had no way of knowing how many lay beyond it. "At least thirty" was all he could say.

They gave up. Kana's party abandoned any thought of rescuing the adventurers ahead. More than thirty Goblins were already too many for them to handle, let alone with a party of wounded people to help. It was impossible. They would only get themselves killed.

Giving up on a rescue was common among adventuring parties. Once two parties became entangled, any number of things could happen. A troublesome—or even vicious—party might use its rescuers as bait.

In their place, most parties would choose to save their own people and sacrifice strangers. If the others were not their companions, they felt no obligation to hold back.

Dean suggested taking a detour, and the other three agreed. Guided by the signals from his Life Detection Magic, Kana's party chose a quieter path with hardly any Goblins nearby.

Meanwhile, after leaving the Adventurers' Guild, Guildmaster Rukta strolled to the temple to meet an older man about his own age.

The man was a Third-Rank Priest—the highest-ranked priest in Blue Town and the only Third-Rank Priest who had stayed.

"What happened? You actually brought out the Dragon-Slaying Twin Axes that once shook heaven and earth!" the old priest asked in surprise. Then, without being asked, he cast a Basic Healing Spell.

The difference between a Third-Rank Priest and a First-Rank Priest was plain to see. The long, still-bleeding gash on Guildmaster Rukta's body closed visibly.

"That old bastard? I finally killed him. Giant Python City is in serious trouble, so I figured I might as well do it. I've disliked him for a long time," Rukta said calmly. "I didn't expect him to have a few tricks left, though."

"Tricks? You mean this?" The old priest pointed to the wound still healing. "It's been more than ten years, and you're still this reckless."

"Never mind that. It's been ten years. I wonder if this batch of adventurers can withstand the next wave." Worry crept into Rukta's voice.

"They're all newcomers, after all. The last wave... hardly anyone survived it," the old priest said regretfully. "If your injuries had healed sooner back then, perhaps... perhaps it wouldn't have been so bloody."

"That's why I plan to step in this time. That old bastard from the Guild was my whetstone. I let these two great axes drink a little blood first. When the time comes, leave the Goblin Shaman to me." The twin axes in Rukta's hands seemed to flash.

The Dragon-Slaying Twin Axes had played a vital role in the battle against the Earth Dragon, leaving wound after wound across its body. They were the only weapon to drink deeply of the Earth Dragon's blood—a divine weapon known as the Dragon-Slaying Blood Axe.

Of course, Earth Dragons were only a dragon subspecies with the thinnest bloodline and the weakest strength.

(The end of this chapter)