As the soldiers of Jula Town continued marching toward the Dungeon of the Goblin's lair, they began dividing into 23 groups. Each group included an adventurer to assist in teaching them how to properly ambush goblins.
The groups parted ways as they got closer to the Dungeon. Only the last group, consisting entirely of seasoned warriors, remained together. This group included Hages, the leader figure of Jula Town's adventurers; Tamuhall Hugh, the captain of Jula Town's soldiers; and, lastly, the Lord of Jula himself, Joliot Jula.
Yes, the Lord himself.
He was once known as the strongest warrior of Jula, having even taken down the head of a Red Ogre, a D-rank monster.
Although he had aged and retired from his warrior life upon taking over his father's position as Lord of Jula, he never thought he had weakened so much that he couldn't protect himself from goblins.
However, he knew his soldiers wouldn't heed his orders if he began killing goblins without a guard by his side, so he decided to bring both Hages and Tamuhall with him.
With the two protecting him, the soldiers were no longer needed. Now he could freely join in protecting his land. Honestly, he even felt excited about it.
The three of them let their horses return to the town before heading to their targets.
They spotted a group of twelve goblins, each around level 3-6, on their way.
They prepared their weapons: Hages with his longsword, Tamuhall with his spear, and Joliot with his battleaxe.
Simultaneously—
They charged at the group of goblins.
A series of swings, thrusts, and cuts unfolded, blood splattering, heads flying—
In an instant, the goblins were all dead.
...
"As expected, they're humans!" muttered Dian.
He and Laura were currently hiding behind a bush, watching as a group of five men battled the goblins on the opposite side.
"They are quite skilled... and clearly well-prepared," Laura remarked as she continued to observe the soldiers killing the goblins.
"But why are they dividing their numbers?" Dian pondered.
Laura used her hypersensitive senses to find the answer and quickly discovered it.
"They must have wanted to reduce the number of goblins while keeping their casualties to a minimum. Actually, this is very effective. From what I can hear, the number of goblins' screams has increased since they arrived. They are killing the goblins at a remarkable speed considering their smaller numbers."
Dian pinched his chin as he processed what Laura had said.
"I see," he said, ideas beginning to form in his head. "According to what we know, these people's target is the goblins. That makes them not hostile towards us...Let's assume so for now. With their presence, we could hunt these goblins more easily, without worrying about those green men calling for reinforcements. After all, their comrades have mostly all been attacked by these people."
"We could even take down the source of these goblins if we are lucky and fast enough," Dian added.
"So," he said as he turned toward his girlfriend, "what now?"
Laura raised her right hand, paused it with her left hand, smiled as if nothing had happened, and said, "Hunt. We will join them in slaying goblins!"
That was exactly what Dian had in mind, so he immediately agreed.
"Alright, let's go!"
With their plan set, both of them rushed out of the bush and moved toward the goblins that had not yet been attacked by the soldiers. With Laura now at the party, finding them was as easy as finding a horse in the water.
Laura immediately attacked as she confronted her first target.
"Ice Enhancement!"
She activated her skill, adding ice and magical damage to her club. With a single swing, she dealt over 100 total damage, instantly killing a level 2 goblin.
[Skill: Ice Enhancement]
[Rank: E.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Imbue your attacks for the next minute with ice that can freeze your target for 2 seconds upon impact, adding an additional 50% of Magical Damage to the target. Cost: 20 MP. Cooldown: 5 minutes.]
There were two goblins in front of Laura: one at level 1 and the other at level 3. The rest, those above level 3, were being handled by Dian.
Laura charged toward the level 1 goblin before it even had time to react, delivering a fatal blow straight to its face, killing it instantly.
Next, only the level 3 goblin remained in her way. It wielded a club and had calmed down slightly. When Laura attacked, the goblin managed to block her swing with its club. It felt a fleeting sense of success, only to realize that its club had been frozen by Laura's attack, rendering its body immobile for the moment.
Unable to defend or react, the goblin was vulnerable to Laura's next strike, which killed it in an instant.
Dian waited for Laura to finish her targets before confirming that they were both unharmed. Once reassured they were fine, they moved on to their next prey.
They passed tree after tree until they finally spotted their next targets. Dian leaped up onto a branch, using it as a springboard to launch himself into the air toward a level 5 goblin among their group. His sudden attack beheaded the goblin instantly, dealing nearly 500 damage with a single strike. As expected, his new weapon had served him well in combat.
Thanks to his passive skill, Blessed by Weapons, he had adapted quickly to swordsmanship, mastering the basics with that one swing. His stance became more stable as he moved toward his next target.
He thrust his sword into the heart of another goblin, piercing its chest and killing it instantly. The attack triggered a critical hit, dealing over 600 points of physical damage.
At that moment, a level 4 goblin from the group rushed toward him, its rusty sword raised high, moving quickly in an active state of Rush. Dian took a stance, preparing to meet its attack head-on when he suddenly had an epiphany and halted his movement.
The goblin's sword drew closer, almost reaching him, but Dian quickly side-stepped, narrowly avoiding the swing. He executed a clean, flowing arc with his sword.
After they exchanged attacks, he and the goblin found themselves back to back.
Then—
The goblin was sliced in two from its waist to its shoulder, blood gushing forth as it fell to the ground.
[Congratulations! You have successfully mastered Swordsmanship · 1!]
The two continued their path, killing goblin after goblin.
Suddenly, a unique notification rang in Dian's mind.
[You have successfully contaminated a dead goblin with your Abyssal Energy, turning it into an Abyssal Goblin.]