Starting with the goblin extermination

Outside the cave entrance, two skinny goblins lay sprawled on the pile of rubble.

They held short bows loosely in their hands, with crooked arrows scattered on the ground beside them. The two goblins weren't running around or fighting; they seemed to be on guard duty.

Although their sentry duty wasn't exactly respectable, this detail excited Thorin.

"We will divide the work."

The old dwarf lowered his voice, "There are scouts. There must be a leader in this cave. Ordinary goblins don't have that kind of brains."

"You mean?"

"Big Goblin." Thorin licked his chapped lips, holding up three short, stubby fingers. "At least worth this much. Get ready to make a fortune, you little brats."

The Great Goblin is an elite individual among the goblin race, with a challenge level of 1/2. It is burly and even stronger than an adult orc.

Logan thought the mutation was so outrageous it was like finding a wild boar jumping out of a rat's nest while you were cleaning it.

However, the bounty for defeating a goblin seems to be as high as two gold coins, and its head is also a good alchemy material... Well, as long as I can beat it, I can earn a lot, and I don't care if the mutation is even more outrageous.

In any case, now that a goblin has appeared, we definitely can't just rush into that dark, smelly cave with its unknown terrain.

Let's choose a safer strategy.

"Barron, go gather some wet pine branches. Logan, get some dry leaves. Be quiet!"

Thorin lay down on the ground, rubbed up a handful of dirt, and threw it into the air.

The soil was blown by a gentle breeze and drifted towards the cave entrance.

"The wind is blowing into the cave, the gods are protecting us." Thorin revealed a cruel smile. "We won't go in, we'll just smoke these rats out."

"Papa, Elsa, take care of those two guards without making a fuss."

Papa silently drew an arrow from behind his back and nocked it on the bowstring.

Elsa then disappeared once again into the shadows of the bushes.

After several dozen breaths.

whoosh-

Papa's arrow pierced the eye socket of the goblin on the left with pinning it to the ground by the tremendous impact, its short bow falling to the side.

At the same instant, just as the goblin on the right was about to cry out, Elsa's gray figure appeared behind it. One of her hands gripped the goblin's neck, while the other roughly stabbed into its forehead, twisting it forcefully.

Both bodies fell limply to the ground, without alerting those deep within the cave.

"here you go."

Logan and Barron, carrying the collected dry leaves and pine branches, crept to the cave entrance and piled them up.

Then Thorin pulled a dusty, gray lighter from his pocket.

Sparks flew out due to intense friction.

The dry leaves were instantly ignited, and then the pine branches, still moist and oily, were scorched by the flames, bursting into thick smoke with a pungent and spicy smell.

Driven by the mountain wind, thick smoke suddenly poured into the dark cave in front of us.

"Cough cough... Chirp chirp!!"

Almost seconds after the thick smoke entered, violent coughing and screaming came from deep within the cave.

"Form ranks!"

Thorin gripped his battle axe tightly, standing like an iron tower blocking the entrance directly in front of the cave.

That's the only way out.

"Logan, Barron, hold both sides! The ones who slipped through are yours! Papa, find a high spot and keep a close eye on Barron! Elsa, play it by ear!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an ordinary goblin, its nose stinging and snot running down its face, scrambled out, clutching its nose.

collapse!

An arrow shot from a tree behind it, piercing its head through.

It's just an appetizer.

The smoke continued to rise into the cave, growing thicker and thicker. Although goblins have iron stomachs, they don't have iron lungs.

"Waaaaah!"

A battle cry emanated from the cave, and about a dozen goblins, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, charged out together.

They were all armed with weapons—iron swords, wooden clubs, and even sharpened leg bones—ready to clear any obstacles in their path.

"Well done! Taste your grandfather Thorin's axe!"

The old dwarf roared.

He didn't retreat a single step when faced with the surging green cars; instead, he charged forward.

Whirlwind Slash

The thick waist and abdomen propelled the heavy double-edged battle axe outwards, the air crackling as it was torn apart, and then the battle axe cleaved into the bodies of the first row of goblins.

puff-

Limbs and severed arms, along with blackish-green blood, shot skyward. Thorin was like a spinning black top, plowing a bloody, mangled clearing through the green formation.

More than half of the goblins were either broken in half or had their heads shattered, their internal organs spilling out onto the ground.

Meanwhile, the others who escaped Thorin's attack range bypassed his attack and pounced on Logan and Baron on the flank.

Logan slid his foot, dodging the goblin's short sword that came at him, and with a swift movement, the blade sliced ​​open its throat.

Immediately afterwards, the longsword trembled.

[Thrust]

A cold light pierced the head of the next goblin, and Logan quickly withdrew it, drawing out a dark red liquid.

[Proficiency +1]

Logan, alone with his sword drawn, stopped most of the remaining goblins.

The improvement in his combat skill level made his attacks faster and more accurate.

[Proficiency +1]

[Proficiency +1]

Some goblins couldn't even see his movements.

Before he could even swing his weapon, a longsword pierced his forehead.

Baron, on the other hand, didn't have it so easy.

Faced with two berserk goblins, the young dwarf raised his shield, but was still knocked back by the enormous impact.

"Don't panic!"

Papa in the tree shouted and drew his bowstring taut.

An arrow pierced the thigh of one of the goblins, causing it to kneel on the ground.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Baron suppressed his fear and stabbed the goblin in front of the shield through the heart. Then he stepped on the one that had been shot by Papa and, with his eyes closed, began to stab wildly until the thing beneath him stopped struggling.

It's finally over...

But the battlefield offers no respite.

The goblin on the side grinned and swung its sword at him.

Baron's mind went blank, his shield-holding hand didn't have time to react, and he could only watch helplessly as the blade fell.

puff-

There was no excruciating pain as I had expected.

The goblin froze in mid-air, a gleaming white blade suddenly appearing between its brows.

Elsa drew her dagger and kicked the goblin's corpse aside.

"Huff... huff..." Baron collapsed to the ground, his body drenched in cold sweat, a wave of fear washing over him.

The battle is not over yet.

"Thump."

A muffled sound came from deep within the cave, the sound of a heavy object striking the ground.

Immediately afterwards, four goblins wielding iron weapons rushed out of the thick smoke, but no one's attention was on them.

Because behind them, a huge figure was bending over and squeezing out of the cave.

It is about two meters tall.

For humans, this is already considered a giant. For a small race like goblins, it's practically a mountain of flesh.

This is the Big Goblin.

Unlike the green skin of ordinary goblins, its skin is dark red, its muscles are bulging all over its body, and it even has an iron breastplate hanging on its chest. It also drags an iron mace as thick as an adult's thigh in its hand.

"roar--!!!"

The goblin let out a deafening roar, spitting out bits of flesh mixed with saliva.

"Take care of the smaller ones first!"

Papa in the tree reacted quickly; she gritted her teeth and nocked two arrows onto her longbow.

In an instant, two streaks of light pierced the throats of the two goblins running at the front.

The remaining two goblins shrieked and charged toward the tree trunk where Papa was, but Baron managed to trap them firmly under the tree.

On the front lines, Thorin confronts the monster directly.

"Come on, big guy!"

Without fear, he gripped his battle axe tightly and swung it fiercely, meeting the giant goblin's crushing blow head-on.

clang--!!!

The deafening clang of metal striking metal made Logan's eardrums ache.

Thorin's feet sank half an inch into the mud, his rough face instantly turning red, the immense recoil causing him to groan involuntarily.

In terms of strength, the Big Goblin has the upper hand.

But Thorin still smiled.

The Wanderer's figure appeared like a ghost behind the Big Goblin. She kept her body close to the ground, avoiding the iron armor on her body, and her dagger slashed towards the Big Goblin's Achilles tendon.

"Aww!"

The goblin, in pain, lost its footing, and its massive body tilted to one side for a moment.

Its enormous hand swept towards Elsa. Elsa lightly leaped backward, dodging the attack.

The current goblin is full of weaknesses.

Logan moved.

The familiar trajectory appeared before Logan's eyes.

With a burst of power from his thigh muscles, Logan leaped into the air, his longsword grazing the ground as he dodged past.

There was a three-inch gap between the goblin's jaw and its armor.

[Thrust]

A fierce, silver lightning bolt flashed across the sky.

Without any hindrance.

Pfft—!

The blade pierced through the goblin's thick chin with overwhelming force, shredding its tongue, penetrating its palate, and finally sinking into its brain.

Logan gave the sword hilt a slight twist of his wrist.

The battle is over.

[Proficiency +1]