Interspecies Training Manual

"You also think they're abnormal?"

Roan used a knife to peel the goblin's hide and handed Celia a knife.

"The goblin's hide is worth some money. We can skin it and exchange it for some cash when we go into town."

Celia caught the knife and carefully began peeling the goblin's skin.

"I've seen similar scenes when I lived in the forest."

Celia recalled the goblins' frenzied state earlier and became lost in memories.

"At that time, my people and I were still migrating when we encountered a group of crazed goblins."

"They charged at our makeshift camp relentlessly, and hordes of goblins fell, but they did not scatter and flee. The attack only stopped when the last goblin was killed."

"This situation is due to control by a higher-level goblin."

Celia spoke with particular certainty, gazing at Roan, "Goblins are social creatures, and their groups have a strict hierarchical order."

"Low-level goblins will unconditionally obey the orders of high-level goblins, even if the order is to kill them."

Luo An remained silent.

Control of high-ranking goblins?

He had heard about the goblin attack from old Bell.

These riots occur periodically, and many farms within the territory have been affected, with the specific reasons unknown.

"Owner?"

Celia saw that he was lost in thought and called out softly.

"I wonder, what are these goblins looking for?"

Luo An snapped out of his daze and looked at the house. "Let's go inside and take a look."

The main room was simply furnished with only a wooden bed, a wooden table, and a few wooden boxes.

Old Bell's body still lies quietly on the bed.

Roan searched the main house and found a cold bone horn in the last wooden box.

It is entirely black, with intricate symbols engraved on its surface.

"Goblin Horn"

The moment Celia saw the horn, she recognized it: "This is the instrument they use to transmit signals."

"When a high-ranking goblin blows its horn, the aura it emits can manipulate the minds of low-ranking goblins, making them violent and bloodthirsty, and stripping them of their fear of death."

Roan searched Old Bell's body again and found a chain with black finger bones strung on it in his pocket.

He was certain that Old Bell had never had this before.

"Are these goblin bones?"

When Luo An had skinned the animal before, he had seen bones hidden in the flesh.

"The bones of ordinary goblins are grayish-white, but these black bones with patterns are only found in the goblin shamans of the tribe."

Celia examined the finger bones; she had seen them when her tribe hunted goblins.

As Luo An listened to her words, gripping the finger bone and the horn, his thoughts suddenly began to race.

Seven days ago, the lord of the main city of the territory personally visited this remote farm with his entourage.

He then spent a short time alone with old Bell in the main house under the pretext of visiting him.

Luo An had no idea what the two of them were talking about inside.

But old Bell was frugal all his life. After retiring from his position as a guard, he stayed at the farm and had no chance of coming into contact with anything from high-ranking goblins.

The only possibility is that the lord secretly left these two items on Old Bell and in the wooden box when he was with Old Bell that day.

Luo An's guess became increasingly clear.

The lord felt that the farm had been given to Old Bell to cultivate for twenty years, and now he wanted to take it back, but he didn't want to pay a high price, so he wanted the goblins to solve the problem for him.

Old Bell is dead; the next one should have been him on the farm.

The only variable is that Roan now possesses the "Interspecies Training Manual" and has an elven girl by his side who knows magic and archery.

That's how they managed to survive the goblin uprising.

"No wonder monster riots happen in the territory every now and then."

Luo An laughed self-deprecatingly.

Land within the territory is limited, and guards who have completed their service should be entitled to a share of land.

If the lord can justify the monsters' uprising, then the unclaimed farms that have been attacked will naturally become the lord's land again.

These new lands were then redistributed to new guards.

Doesn't this create a virtuous cycle?

Luo An wrapped the finger bones and horn in coarse cloth.

These two items will only cause endless trouble if left on the farm; they need to be disposed of.

"It's late, let's bury Father first."

Luo An walked out of the main house and picked up a shovel.

"He spent his whole life tending the farm; he deserves to be laid to rest."

Celia did as she was told.

Under the cover of night, the two men dug a large pit in the corner of the backyard, shoveling soil one shovelful at a time.

Roan placed old Bell's body into the pit and filled the ground with soil.

There was no eulogy, no tombstone, only a slightly arched earthen mound in the courtyard.

Luo An stood in front of the grave for a long time.

In the memories of his predecessor, old Bell was a taciturn man who did not remarry after his mother's early death and raised his child alone.

Although there wasn't much communication between father and son, he fulfilled his responsibilities as a father.

The farm wasn't sold to the lord because old Bell wanted to leave it to his predecessor.

"I will do my best to protect the farm."

Luo An murmured, his emotions running high, perhaps due to the merging of memories.

"Those who harmed you will never be let off the hook."

Celia, who had been watching from afar for a long time, walked to his side and asked softly, "Master, what do you plan to do with those two items?"

"I will return these things to the forest when it gets light."

Luo An took out the cloth bag from his arms and looked towards the forest.

Since that lord left his things here, he must have been prepared for the goblins to take them.

Since that's the case, Luo An had no worries.

"Give it back?"

Celia was taken aback for a moment, then understood.

"Goblins are very attached to the belongings of their kind. If you throw the finger bone and horn deep into the forest, the goblins will naturally come looking for them."

Roan nodded. "That way, the farm is safe."

He understood that this was only a temporary solution.

Since the lord has set his mind on this, if he fails once, he will surely try again.

He didn't have time to think too much; he needed to resolve the immediate crisis first.

"Master, I'll go with you."

Celia is quite familiar with the forest. "Although my magic is sealed, I can still help deal with goblins and won't be a hindrance."

"Your magic has been sealed?"

Only then did Roan belatedly realize the "Anti-Magic" status bar, no wonder she didn't cast any spells when the goblins charged.

Celia pulled her silver hair up, revealing a section of her snow-white neck.

There was a blue magic-suppressing mark on his neck.

With this mark on her, she cannot use the magic within her body.

"When the tribe was attacked, the group used magic-suppressing stones to cast magic-suppressing marks on their people."

Celia took the initiative to talk about the past, "Many of my tribesmen rebelled, and I managed to escape during the chaos."

"I thought I had escaped the fate of becoming a slave, but I never expected that I would still become a slave."

"But I think it's a hundred times luckier to be a master's slave than to be someone else's slave."

Celia picked up the bow and arrows that were placed aside and slung the quiver over her shoulder.

Seeing her serious expression, Luo An made a promise.

"I'll keep an eye out for the magic-removing stone when I go to the city this time."

Looking at the white light rising on the horizon, Roan turned back and gave Celia a warm smile.

"Demon-dispelling stones are very expensive. We need to kill as many goblins as possible in the forest this time, otherwise we might not be able to afford them even if we find them."

Celia was slightly stunned. Seeing him walk away, she quickly followed Roan's footsteps.

Trust level +15%

[When the trainee's trust level reaches 100%, the magic level will be upgraded to B-rank magic - Great Fireball.]

[Unlock advanced paths for your trainees]