Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

Lance, holding Little Black, glided smoothly beneath the clouds. His long, silvery-white hair billowed in the wind, and his dark gray travel robe fluttered in the breeze, but he maintained a relaxed posture, as if he were taking a stroll.

"Master, those small hills below should be Ash Hills, right?"

Little Black peeked out from his arms, its eerie green eyes fixed on the gradually clearing terrain below.

"Um."

Lance lowered his altitude slightly.

The Ash Hills get their name from the region’s distinctive gray-brown soil and the black rocks scattered among the hills, said to be remnants of ancient volcanic eruptions.

From the air, the rolling hills resemble a frozen gray ocean, occasionally dotted with a few low shrubs.

But Lance wasn't paying attention to the scenery.

His gaze was fixed on several smoking holes.

"That's probably the goblin's lair," he said softly. "The smoke is from their fire."

"Meow~ Shall we go down?"

"I'm not going down." Lance's lips curled into a slight smile. "I'll take care of it up here."

He adjusted his holding position to make sure the little guy could stay comfortably in his arms, while freeing up his right hand.

The speed advantage of flight techniques should not be wasted.

Thirty meters per second means he could fly from one end of the hill to the other in a minute.

Those goblin's short legs are too short to catch up with, even if you chase them for a lifetime.

"Master, are you going to cast a spell in the air?" Little Black looked up at him, its eyes shining with excitement.

"Okay. You stay put and don't move around."

Lance began to descend, but maintained a height of about twenty meters above the ground.

At this height, the goblins' slingshots couldn't reach it, and even if they had archers, their range wouldn't be enough—besides, they couldn't possibly have goblin technology; they mostly used tattered bows and arrows, with questionable accuracy and power.

Goblins do like to burrow and live underground, but that's not true of all goblins.

Some of the stronger goblins would occupy abandoned buildings on the ground, or simply build a makeshift shed as a base to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Sure enough, on a flat area on the southeast side of the hill, Lance saw several simple huts built of wood and animal hides.

There were a dozen or so goblins around the hut. Some were gnawing on bones, some were picking lice off each other, and a few were lying in the sun sleeping, belly up, limbs outstretched, looking quite peaceful.

Lance flew through the air in an arc, passing overhead.

The goblins heard the wind and looked up.

His cloudy little eyes stared at the flying thing in the sky, his mind full of questions.

A two-legged creature that can fly?

Is it a human?

No, those pointy ears... they're elves?

But whatever it is, it's meat—that's the only thought in their rudimentary minds.

Several goblins raised their tattered short spears, attempting to throw them upwards.

The short spear flew to a height of seven or eight meters before exhausting itself and falling back down, still far from Lance.

Lance didn't even slow down.

He raised his right hand, his fingertips glowing a ghastly green.

[Magic Blast!]

A ghastly green beam of light shot from the fingertip, striking precisely the chest of the goblin at the front.

The goblin's charging body suddenly stopped, a fist-sized hole exploded in its chest, and then it fell straight backward, crashing to the ground and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

[Slayed a level 1 goblin x1, gained 5 experience points!]

The panel notification flashed by quickly.

Lance has already flown far away.

He circled around once more, passing over the shed again.

The second [Magic Explosion].

The third way.

The fourth one.

Each beam of light hit a goblin precisely, and every goblin hit was killed instantly.

The goblins didn't even know who the enemy was—they only saw the flying thing in the sky occasionally flash a green light, and their companions would fall down beside them.

By the time Lance flew over for the third time, there were already seven or eight corpses lying around the shed.

The remaining few finally learned to be afraid.

They screamed and scattered, some darting into sheds, others running into the depths of the hills.

Lance didn't chase after him.

He raised his left hand, his five fingers spread.

[Aard Sign!]

An invisible force field surged from the palm, sweeping downwards in a fan shape.

The slower goblins were thrown into the air as if they had been hit head-on by a charging wild boar, tumbling several times on the ground before crashing into the shed.

The wooden poles snapped, the animal hides tore, and the shed collapsed, burying them inside.

For the next two hours, Lance, carrying Little Black, conducted a one-sided aerial sweep over Ash Hills.

He looked down from the air, observing the goblin settlements, from the exits of underground caves to the shacks on the ground.

Then lower the altitude and use spells to eliminate the target.

If you encounter an underground cave, set it on fire, and the goblins will soon come out.

Those who ran fast rushed out of the cave, looked up to find the arsonist—and then saw the flying figure in the sky.

In the moment they were stunned, they were greeted by Little Black's [Alder Sign].

"call--"

A level 2 goblin was blasted away by the force field, rolled several times on the ground, and crashed into a black rock.

Seeing that it could still move, Xiao Hei fired a [Magic Blast] at its head, and it stopped moving.

[Slayed a level 2 goblin x1, gained 10 experience points!]

As Lance's magical pet, Xiao Hei's experience points are credited to Lance when it kills enemies.

Little Black retracted its paws and proudly flicked its tail: "Master, I killed one!"

"I saw it, well done." Lance casually threw two more [Fire Arrows] into the cave, and only after confirming there was no movement did he turn and fly to the next spot.

When encountering settlements on the ground, the process is simpler.

Fly straight there and wait for those goblins to rush out and die.

Sometimes, when there are more items, Lance will try a different approach.

For example, [Burning Hand].

He lowered his altitude, aimed at the swarm of goblins gathered below, and pushed forward with both hands.

Blazing flames erupted from his palm, sweeping across in a fan shape.

A dozen goblins instantly turned into fireballs, screaming and rolling on the ground, but they stopped moving after a few rolls, leaving only their charred corpses smoking.

Time flies by during the breaks in the flight.

Two hours later, Lance had cleared most of the goblin settlements in Ash Hills.

The experience points on the panel increased from 105 to 895.

Current experience: 895/5000

We're just a little over a hundred short of breaking a thousand.

Lance, holding Little Black, hovered above a hilly area, looking down at the last remaining cleared area—a large goblin settlement located in a depression between two hills.

Unlike the scattered shacks before, there is a proper building here.

Although it's called a building, it's really just a simple house built of stones, but it's much better than those shacks made of wooden poles and animal hides.

A dozen or so goblins stood around the house, each carrying weapons superior to their companions, such as gleaming knives and shields without any holes.