Deep within the quiet, lush Misty Forest, ancient trees towered, their overlapping branches and leaves forming a dense canopy that blocked out all sunlight from the sky.
Under the cover of the tree shade, Captain Garp and the archer Jack went to scout near the goblin nest.
Haus, Russell, and Zem remained at the spot.
None of the three were suited for scouting.
At the temporary rest point, the spellcaster, Russell, closed her eyes, holding her staff horizontally in front of her as if meditating.
Beside her, Zem took the giant axe from his back and carefully inspected his weapon.
Seeing this, Haus followed suit, drawing his longsword from his waist and holding it horizontally in front of him.
He then took a palm-sized bottle from his nearby pack, uncorked it, and applied the paralyzing poison to the tip of his sword.
Although dealing with creatures like goblins usually doesn’t require poison, Haus still spent two silver coins to buy this potion, which he heard was potent enough to paralyze a giant bear, just to be safe.
After making preparations, Captain Garp and Jack, who had gone ahead to scout, had now returned.
“There’s only one campfire in front of the cave entrance.
There are no more than twenty adult goblins, and no goblin orcs.
However, there’s a goblin archer hidden in the treetops near the entrance, and there are goblin sentries at the cave mouth…” Garp recounted the intelligence he and Jack had gathered to the group, and then they began discussing the ambush plan.
Haus listened intently, his estimation of Garp rising even higher.
His previous judgment was good; this captain was truly professional.
The ten silver coins were well spent.
…
After the briefing on the intelligence and the plan, the group set off toward the goblin lair.
Notably, this time, Zem, who had originally been at the rear of the formation, took the lead with his shield raised, while Captain Garp fell back to the end of the line, walking side by side with Haus.
“Watch your step.
Try to avoid stepping on dry branches and making noise.” Garp quietly reminded Haus.
“Mm.” Haus nodded slightly.
This captain really was professional, even thinking of such details.
After advancing for about ten minutes, the goblin lair came into view.
This was Haus’s first time seeing a goblin lair.
Though called a lair, it actually looked like an unremarkable mound of earth.
The entrance was half-covered by weeds, and the surrounding ground was littered with numerous footprints and the bones of unknown creatures.
In front of the entrance, there was also a long-extinguished campfire.
The moment Haus saw the campfire, his stomach churned.
Amid the ashes, a charred skull was clearly half-exposed.
Goblins eat humans.
Taking a deep breath, Haus tried to calm himself, but the faint yet terrifying stench drifting through the air made it difficult for him to regain his composure.
That smell was more pungent and foul than the rot of a garbage dump, more nauseating than an unflushed toilet.
He had no choice but to lower his head and take a deep breath from the slime attached to the inner armor on his chest.
He used the faint, fresh scent from the slime to wash away the foul odor in his nostrils.
Haus hadn’t intentionally brought the slime along; after he left, it had crawled out of his pocket on its own and chased after him.
As a contracted monster, it wouldn’t leave without its master’s command.
And Haus hadn’t specifically ordered it to “stay put.” After all, even though it was a contracted monster, the slime’s combat ability was far too low, and it remained motionless for long periods, making its presence barely noticeable.
Moreover, the upcoming battle might be dangerous, so Haus hadn’t paid much attention to the newly contracted monster girl.
In short, he had accidentally forgotten about it.
It wasn’t until the slime caught up that he suddenly remembered he had such a familiar.
Notably, no one noticed the slime catching up.
Even Haus himself only realized it when the “slime fluid” flowed from the ground to his heel and then climbed all the way up to his chest.
Honestly, it gave him quite a scare.
Fortunately, he had strong self-control and didn’t make too much noise.
Looking down at the little creature now spread flat against his inner armor, forming a layer of “slime Inner Armor,” Haus suddenly realized that this newly contracted familiar might not just be capable of providing him with skills.
He seemed to have discovered a new use for the slime.
“Jack.” Captain Garp suddenly spoke, and immediately, Jack up ahead bent his bow and shot an arrow toward the distant cave entrance.
Whoosh The sound of the arrow cutting through the air echoed as the arrow, coated with green poison, flew toward the cave, precisely striking the center of the pair of eyes in the darkness.
Immediately after, the spellcaster teammate Russell beside him raised his staff, muttering incantations Haus couldn’t understand, and launched a [Fireball] directly at the Goblin Archer on the nearby treetop.
The fist-sized fireball flew at incredible speed and successfully struck the Goblin Archer.
The Goblin Archer let out a strange cry, tumbled from the treetop to the ground, and struggled frantically.
By then, Captain Garp had already rushed to its side, raising his greatsword to deliver the final blow.
At the same time, Zem, wielding a giant axe and shield beside Haus, sprang into action.
He charged toward the cave entrance with his shield raised, his towering two-meter-three frame completely blocking the opening to prevent the goblins inside from swarming out.
The four of them coordinated flawlessly.
As for Haus, he stayed put as planned, ready to provide support at any moment.
After all, he was just a newcomer and an outsider temporarily added to the team.
Not causing trouble was enough.
But adventure itself is inherently risky.
“Whoosh” A familiar sound of something cutting through the air echoed in his ears.
Haus instinctively turned to look at Jack, only to find Jack wide-eyed, clutching his chest in terror.
At this moment, an arrow was embedded in Jack’s chest.
Trickles of blood seeped from the wound.
“There’s another one, Haus!” Captain Garp shouted, raising his hand to point toward the bushes to Haus’s left front.
Through the gaps in the foliage, Haus locked eyes with a pair filled with malice.
Without hesitation, Haus charged forward.
The role of the support position was now on full display.
But seeing Haus charging headlong toward the bushes without adopting any defensive posture, Garp felt a surge of anxiety in his heart.
Damn it!
A rookie is still a rookie, lacking experience after all.
Just as Garp had anticipated, the sound of something cutting through the air rang out again the next moment.
An arrow shot out from the bushes, instantly striking Haus squarely in the chest.
“Haus!” “Got it!” Haus responded in a deep voice, simultaneously swinging his sword to slit the throat of the Goblin Archer hiding in the bushes.
Immediately after, he sharply turned his head to look at Garp, his left hand not idle either as he reached up and pulled the arrow lodged in his chest straight out.
“Where else?!” Garp’s gaze fell on the arrow at Haus’s feet, seeing the look of tension and urgency on Haus’s face and the clear questioning in his eyes.
The arrowhead bore not a single trace of blood but instead was stained with a strange blue liquid.
Gulping, Garp couldn’t help but show astonishment on his face.
“You…
are you alright?”