Chapter 67: Goblin’s Nightmare
The goblin stood in front of the stone pot, constantly stirring with the wooden stick in hand.
Inside the stone pot was a variety of indescribable viscous foods, among which were visible grains of wheat, berries, grass seeds, beetles, and large green worms.
All sorts of ingredients reacted strangely as they were heated by the fire, sending out waves of peculiar, pungent smells that followed the cooking smoke.
Yet the goblin took a deep sniff, as if it was detecting some exquisite delicacy, showing a satisfied expression on its face.
Although the goblins had small brains and simple thoughts, it didn’t prevent them from understanding the importance of fire.
By maintaining the fire source at the fire pit, the tribe could cook any time and sustain a more comfortable nest environment during the cold winter months.
If the fire in the pit unfortunately went out, they would have to steal flames from human villages, which was quite a troublesome affair.
At the thought of humans.
The cooking goblin uncontrollably drooled a murky saliva.
Looking again at the food in the pot before it, everything seemed less appealing.
But suddenly, another image jumped into its mind, one it couldn’t forget.
It was a fragment of memory that occupied the little space in its brain.
A group of tall humans wielding sharp weapons had easily destroyed the tribe it once belonged to, with clan members falling amidst the gleam of blades and blood.
Under the gaze of those demonic figures, the goblin faced the cold crossbows that could easily massacre its companions. It cowardly panicked and fled into the forest with a few other goblins, escaping far away.
Eventually, it settled down here after traveling an unknown distance.
With the efforts of the surviving goblins, it re-established the tribe amid the threats of the wild and the beasts.
Though the new generation of goblins were all scrawny little ones due to the frail mothers, as long as things continued this way, they would one day enjoy the good days of eating meat again.
"Hehehe..."
Thinking of the good days to come, the goblin grinned ear to ear, revealing its yellowish-brown crooked thick teeth, making its already ugly face even more sinister.
"Da da da!"
The sound of footsteps approached.
The cooking goblin looked up and saw a green figure hurriedly barging into its line of sight.
Seeing it was a fellow tribesman and not some other creature, the goblin temporarily lowered its guard.
"Wah wah wah!"
But the panicked cries from its companion’s mouth tensed its nerves again.
The returning companion kept repeating the sound that represented humans.
It was humans!
Following the direction pointed by its short fellow, it saw a tall figure coming out slowly, treading on fallen leaves.
Sunlight shone from behind him, an inexplicable sense of oppression accompanied the ever-approaching footsteps, intensifying, causing a stab of pain in the goblin’s mind.
The similar tall figure seemed to drag it back into the nightmare of the past!
Its two slender yet firm legs began to tremble unconsciously.
"Magic Missile!"
A blue orb bursting through the air became the last fragment of its memory.
"Boom!"
Like an arrow, the missile easily punched into its chest, sending it flying several meters away.
Gauss put away his staff.
"Goblin killed *1"
"Total monster kills: 83"
Seeing the goblin lying on the ground, clearly larger in size than the other tribesmen, losing all light in its eyes, he shifted his gaze towards the distant cave.
Believing that the other might be the leader of this tribe, he didn’t like wasting time.
The rule of capturing the leader first must be executed well.
One could say that the combat power of goblins, these low-level monsters, largely depended on the "Commander."
Without a leader, goblins were just scattered sand; with a Big Goblin in command, a goblin tribe could slaughter villages. If under the banner of a Giant Dragon, their morale in battle would elevate to another level, instantly transforming them into fearless brave Warriors.
On the other side, the goblin, acting as the "guide," was stunned at the sight of its companion’s chest being blown apart.
It hadn’t expected that this terrifying human would insidiously follow it here.
Just as it was about to shout a warning to other tribesmen in the distant cave.
A rapier cut through its throat the moment it rolled its throat to speak.
Its head fell to the ground, rolling away.
"Goblin killed *1"
"Total monster kills: 84"
Gauss twirled his sword, shaking off the blood stains from the blade.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.
He felt that he was getting increasingly adept at killing goblins.
Especially these solitary or small groups of goblins; in front of him, they couldn’t even survive a single encounter.
Mage Armor, Basic Swordsmanship Lv1 (8/10), and the Predator effect granted by the Goblin Hunter title.
All these endowed him with the potential to become a ruthless machine for killing goblins.
He glanced at the Monster Atlas.
The number in the lower-right corner of the first goblin icon had unknowingly reached 45.
This meant that 45 goblins had died at his hands.
Yet, this was far from enough.
Compared to the countless goblins hidden in the wild, his numbers were just a drop in the ocean.
As long as he became strong enough, this number would skyrocket in the future. After all, there was no Wild Goblin Protection Association in this world, so no one would come out to condemn his oppression of the goblin race.
Gauss walked up to the cave entrance.
It was a cave not considered very high, about only a meter and a half in height.
With a thought, Mage’s Hand formed and took shape in front of him.
He placed a spherical object into the Mage’s Hand and controlled it to enter the cave.
Limited by range constraints, after about a distance of ten meters, he had to bend down and enter the cave to extend its range.
Finally, after hearing the faint sounds of goblins inside the cave, he stopped, controlling Mage’s Hand to use a match to ignite the stink ball placed deep inside the cave.
The flames adhered to the stink ball, instantly engulfing the sphere. Accompanied by the rising flames, a pungent black smoke and rapidly released stench also surged forth.
"Ssssss!!!!"
A sharp odor quickly burst out from the perforated ball, like a smoke bomb with an awful stench, the smoke drifted into the cave.
At this moment, Gauss quickly slipped out of the low cave.
He waited outside in advance for the goblins to come out.
Compared to smoke, the effect of the stink ball was more temporary and needed to be released deep inside the cave to have a better effect.
Although it could also be lit and thrown inside, there was a risk of it being extinguished.
This tool was something he found in a grocery store. Carrying out tasks alone without teammates to assist, he could only rely on magic and tools to diversify his methods.
The only drawback was that it was a bit expensive, costing 1 silver coin per ball.
Fortunately, this money wasn’t spent in vain; shortly after, the stimulating stench released by the stink ball drove the goblins out from inside.
"Cough cough cough!"
The goblins rushed out of the cave, taking large breaths of fresh air.
As they gasped, a figure quietly approached.
"Slash!"
The gleam of the sword sliced through skin, with blood and flesh easily sliced open like tofu.
The rapier, enhanced by white light, sliced through several goblins.
During the altercation, goblins attempted to resist, but claw swipes and wooden club hits were all blocked by an invisible Protective layer.
Gauss sheathed his sword, exhaling long breaths.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted a goblin stealthily crouching and tiptoeing behind him, trying to sneak away unnoticed.
"Crafty little green skin."
The next moment, a Magic Missile followed.
"Boom!"
The last goblin fell to the ground in defiance.
"Total monster kills: 89"
The goblin kill count simultaneously reached 50.
After killing the last goblin, Gauss stood still, dumbfounded.
He felt as if there was an indescribable change on him.