Useless Magic Artifact

The four of them stood before the ruined temple. The place seemed to be something like the sacred ground of the Goblin Tribe, so not a single Goblin wandered nearby. As a result, they had not noticed that three humans—and one half-human—had arrived outside their sacred temple.

As for the half-human, that was naturally Lamore. He possessed only half human blood. But none of that mattered!

The newly appointed little Shaman seemed to sense something and turned around in confusion. However, this turn would lead to the most terrifying moment of the little Goblin's life: four tall humans had surrounded him.

Yes, tall. To a little Goblin, even a petite girl like Yanxi was extremely tall, let alone Lamore, who was nearly two meters tall.

"Gah gah gah! Gah gah!"

The little Goblin's body trembled as he forcibly calmed himself down. However, the four of them did not need to understand what the Goblin was saying.

The little Goblin knew that he was in great danger, but what could he do? Precisely because this ruined temple was the sacred ground of the tribe, no other Goblins lived nearby. Even if he screamed himself hoarse, there was no way his companions outside would hear him. Besides, even if they did hear him, would they arrive in time to save him?

"Gah gah gah!"

The little Goblin picked up his scepter and spoke to Dean. The Mage's robe on Dean had already told the little Shaman that he was a Mage.

And he himself was a Shaman, even if he had only just taken over the position! A Shaman's dignity, however, would not allow the little Goblin to flee or beg for mercy.

"Dean, he's challenging you to a fight!" Kana said hesitantly. It would have been so much easier for all four of them to attack together and finish off the little Goblin, but she could not disrespect a battle between Mages.

It was just like a battle between knights. No one was allowed to interfere, or it would be disrespectful to both sides of the fight.

"Then bring it on!" Dean nodded. Facing the little Goblin, Dean could not afford to be careless with the little Shaman around. Although Goblins were fundamentally no match for humans in terms of innate aptitude, he still did not dare underestimate him.

Dean took out his staff. It was merely a little smoother and straighter than an ordinary twig—a plain, ordinary magic staff. The little Goblin, on the other hand, held a Low-Level Magic Artifact.

In terms of weapons alone, Dean had already lost—and lost utterly. There was simply no comparison.

"Basic Binding Spell!" After a chant lasting only two seconds, a dark beam of light appeared beneath the little Shaman's feet and instantly seized its target.

"Gah gah gah!" Just then, a blue-green stream of light flowed into the little Shaman's body. Unfortunately, the little Shaman was not injured at all, so the healing light merely invigorated him for a moment.

"Look, magic! This little Goblin actually knows how to use magic!" Kana said as she looked at the restrained little Goblin.

In everyone's eyes, even if an underage Goblin was a Shaman, it should have been impossible for him to release a spell. The little Goblin before them had only just become a Shaman and was still underage. He had barely any magic power, let alone enough to cast a spell!

"It's because of that scepter. It allows this Goblin Shaman to use the magic power around him," Lamore said. Healing Technique was his strongest spell, so the Goblin's healing magic was immediately obvious to him.

"Magic Artifacts possess simple consciousness and can provide their users with support in manipulating magic power. Now, here's the problem!" Dean turned around and looked at the three of them.

"You know that I don't have a decent offensive spell. Now that I've restrained this newly appointed Shaman, what am I supposed to do?" Dean did not feel ashamed in the slightest. "What if this guy knows how to use offensive magic? Am I supposed to compete with him in attrition?" Dean pointed at the restrained little Goblin and spoke helplessly.

"Take it! Take it, quickly!" Kana drew her hand axe. Her fair right hand gripped the weapon as she threw it straight at Dean's face.

"You two listen carefully. The fact that Dean can't deal with a little Goblin must be kept absolutely secret. Otherwise, our Kana's Squad will never be able to show our faces again!" Finally, Kana shouted in exasperation, "Dean, you idiot, did you hear me? Don't tell anyone about this, or I'll skin you alive right here!!!"

The hand axe flew past Dean's scalp and struck a pillar of the ruined temple. Of course, Kana had deliberately aimed at that angle. It would not take Dean's life, but it would teach him a lesson.

"Absolutely! Absolutely!" Dean shuddered and hurriedly lowered his head to retrieve the hand axe. However, he was not strong enough, and it took him a great deal of effort to finally pull the axe from the pillar!

"Dean, please stop making Sister Kana angry. Otherwise! Otherwise, I don't even know when I'll have to carry you into the Temple in the future! I pray that after Dean is carried into the Temple, he'll still be able to come back out!" Yanxi prayed silently, already imagining the path Dean would take in the future!

As for being carried into the Temple, that was basically reserved for people who were almost beyond saving. In Yanxi's eyes, Dean was already going farther and farther down that road.

"Ah, that saved me a Life-Healing Spell!" Lamore let out a sigh of relief. Even as someone proficient in first-level healing spells, he did not want to use this Healing Magic, because it was too exhausting. It was tiring for the body and especially costly in magic power.

"If I could fully master the Demon Hand among the Magic Hand, then today I could catch a blade barehanded!" Dean was still thinking about it slowly, showing no sign of remorse. He even wanted to use his own magic to fight back.

During this time, the little Goblin had already used Healing Technique three times. It seemed that this little Shaman had only mastered this one spell, let alone any offensive magic.

Even so, this was already remarkable. Given a Goblin's aptitude, learning a spell during childhood was extremely rare. Although it was only Healing Technique, it was still an uncommon achievement!

The result was obvious. The little Goblin Shaman was no match for Dean. His choice to fight Dean was merely the dignity of a Shaman... along with his resolve to die in battle once escape became impossible.

Although Dean was a Mage, he was only a support-type Mage, so this was the first time he had ever killed someone.

It was the first time he had personally ended the life of an intelligent race, and Dean's state of mind seemed to change somewhat. Although many places did not consider Goblins to be part of the intelligent races.

Dean returned the hand axe to Kana. He did not look at the little Shaman lying on the ground and walked toward the Goblin Scepter that had fallen nearby.

He grabbed the Goblin Scepter in one motion. However, the instant he seized it, the scepter began shaking violently, as if trying to break free from his grasp. Unfortunately, it lacked the strength to do so—or rather, the simple consciousness within the Magic Artifact did not acknowledge Dean, a non-Goblin user.

"This seems to be a Magic Artifact specifically for Goblins!" Dean was silent for a moment before helplessly telling the other three.

"So that means this thing is worthless?" Kana's eyes widened. After taking the scepter, she was indeed rejected just as mercilessly. Since it was worthless, Kana casually threw it back to Dean.

"There are only two ways to use this scepter. The first is to have a Goblin use it, but that method can be ignored. The second is to erase the consciousness inside it." Dean paused, then said helplessly.

"Without its consciousness, this is nothing more than an ugly, ordinary magic staff."