Chapter 17: Culling
Early in the morning of the next day, Ai woke me up and I made my way outside the inn. I took a small walk throughout the town's marketplace and bought myself a cloth mask and cloak before walking out of the town and heading into the forest.
Once I was a bit further away, I checked around and seeing that there was no one nearby I put on the mask and the cloak before summoning Zephyr and starting my search. Five minutes in, I managed to find some goblin corpses that looked at least a day old.
"Seems like I need to head deeper." I mumbled to myself as I increased my speed and headed deeper inside the Azure Forest. After 20 minutes of only finding dead goblins and adventurers, I finally saw my first group of goblins. There were a total of five of them, all looking towards me and screaming something I didn't quite understand. Not caring what they were saying in the slightest, I grabbed my spear from my back and charged using Zephyr towards their group. One of the leading goblins used his sword, swinging it directly towards one of the legs of my steed, but too bad it didn't have any effect. The sword just passed through, allowing me to kill the two goblin shamans behind him.
After killing the two that seemed like they could be a problem, I turned around and took care of the rest with ease. Mounted combat a lot easier than fighting on foot. After cutting the ears of the goblins as proof, I asked Ai:
'Ai, how's the experience gain with these goblins?'
[An average of ten. The shamans give slightly more while the warriors give less.]
'That's not bad. So I need around a hundred of them for a full level up.'
Full of excitement, I started riding deeper into the forest, looking for more goblins to hunt. Five hours and more than 60 goblins later, I was sitting at the base of a tree and eating some fruits I picked up on the way. As I went deeper and deeper into the forest, I noticed the amount of experience gained increased at a steady pace. When I asked Ai about it she said that the goblins that lived deeper into the forest had a higher level and that I was probably going to find some kind of goblin camp soon.
'Ai, how much experience did the last group we killed give on average?'
[16 experience.]
Looking at the experience gauge, I noticed that I was close to leveling up. After a moment of thought, I decided to roam around and level up before going deeper inside the forest since the enemies were getting stronger. Once I was done eating, I mounted Zephyr and started hunting again. One hour later, Ai's voice sounded in my mind.
[Congratulations, Ethan. You have leveled up.]
[
Name: Ethan Knott
Age: Avatar 18;
Race: Avatar Human;
Experience: 6/1500;
Health Points: 100/100;
Mana Points 52/90;
Level: 7;
Vitality: 10;
Strength: 12;
Dexterity : 9;
Intelligence: 9;
Resistance: 9;
1 free stat point
———
System Points: 100;
Spirit: 700 (500);
]
Checking my status, I nodded and finally started heading deeper inside the forest. I kept the free stat point for any emergency I might stumble upon. On the way I asked Ai.
'Ai, why did my intelligence increase by two points?'
[Because you kept practicing and reading about magic these few days. The same way working out will increase your strength, constant reading and magic practicing increased your intelligence.]
Nodding my head, I kept heading deeper into the forest until I head a loud scream coming from my left. Startled, I turned towards the direction of the scream and started making my way there. Once I reached the place where the scream originated from, I saw a group of twenty goblins riding on some big wolves and attacking a group of adventurers. Not waiting a moment longer, I also joined the fight, attacking the goblin closest to me.
The goblin was laughing while his wolf was feeding on one of the victims and didn't notice me until it was too late. I pierced his body from the back, stabbing straight into his heart. The wolf instantly turned towards me and bit at Zephyr's leg. I chucked as I removed my spear from the goblins body and stabbed it through the wolf's head from above.
Now that I killed one of them, the others finally noticed me and a group of eight started riding towards me. I started running back at a low pace to make sure they could keep up. Once we were far enough from the others, I suddenly turned towards them and picked the staff I took from Zen from my back. With a mocking smile, I channeled half of my remaining mana into the staff before firing a fireball in the middle of their formation. They wanted to dodge but were too late to change directions and were soon engulfed by flames.
Seeing their companions get killed, one of the other goblins let out a shriek and they started running back into the forest.
"Oh, you think you can run away?" I said as I put the staff on my back and charged right after them. The speed of the wolves was nothing compared to my spell and soon caught up to them, killing the one in the back before they could even react. Seeing that they had no hope of escaping, they turned around and put some distance between each other, probably scared of me using another fireball. I was about to charge towards the closest one when Ai said inside my head.
[Kill the biggest one first. I don't know why he's using a sword but he's definitely a shaman.]
Her words made me focus my eyes on the shaman and I soon charged right at him. The other ones tried to block my path, but I used Zephyr as a springboard and jumped over their attacks, stabbing the shaman straight through his neck and landing back on Zephyr that passed through the others without any problem. As I turned around, I could see fear in the eyes of both the goblins and the wolves.
"Time for slaughter" I said as I charged at the warrior goblins, killing them one after another with ease. Once I was done Senna's voice sounded inside my head.
[*Not bad.*]
Hearing a compliment from her, a spirit that lived for a countless number of years made me swell up with pride.
"Thank you." I replied as I cut their ears and made my way back towards where the other adventurers were. Once I got there, I saw them sitting on the ground and treating their wounds. Spotting me, they were initially on guard and grabbed their weapons, but after they noticed the badge on my chest they calmed down and almost all of them resumed treating their wounds. A big muscular man, who looked like their leader, started walking towards me.
"Thank you, fellow adventurer, for saving our asses. Those fuckers almost got us all."
I nodded towards him and answered: "No problem. I came back to see if you need any help but you seem fine. I'll be on my way then."
"Wait a moment." Said the bulky man. "Are you here for the culling quest?" seeing me turn around and nod in response, he continued: "Don't you want to come with us? We lost two members of our group and we could kill more of them together."
I shook my head and said: "I'm sorry, I'm used to fighting alone. Aren't you going to head back? You're injured after all."
"We still have our healer. We'll just wait for him to recover his mana and heal us before continuing." He said as he pointed towards a skinny youth in the back.
I looked at the youth and he nodded towards me before continuing to patch his wounds.
"Suit yourself. I would suggest you guys head back a bit since the enemies will only get stronger as you go deeper inside."
"Ha ha ha, we came here to look for a challenge, so going back is no option. Those green skinned bastards won't know what hit them." Said the bulky man as he punched his chest.
Anise's words sounded in my mind as I listened to the bulky man's words ("That place is full of desperate people or suicidal lunatics.") and made me realize that she might not have been that far from the truth. I decided to abstain from commenting and wished them good luck before leaving the party. Once I put a bit of a distance between us, I climbed up a tall tree and went to sleep so I could recover my mana.
Once I woke up again, it was already dark outside. I activated Owl Eyes and checked my surroundings. It was the first time I actually tested the spell and the result was amazing. I could see even better at night than I could during the day. Praising Senna in my head, I cast Zephyr again and started another round of hunting, or so I thought. Two hours later, I didn't pass a single goblin. Confused about what was going on I asked my wise companions for an opinion.
[*Goblins can't see in the dark and only the shamans are able to use fire magic to create light. They probably returned to their camps as soon as night started to settle.*]
[Affirmative. That is the most likely conclusion.]
'I see, guess there is no other way than to proceed further inside the forest and hope to stumble upon a goblin camp.' I said as I continued searching blindly for a goblin camp.
Three hours of boring running through the forest, I finally noticed a faint light coming from the front. Excited, I followed to light and soon reached the first goblin settlement, or it would be more appropriate to call it a small town. Hundreds of huts, made out of branches an twigs, were placed next to each other for as fas as my eyes could see, all surrounding a huge fire, more than 20 meters tall, whose purpose probably was to illuminate the entire place at night. I was about to start the slaughter when I heard Senna's voice inside my head.
[*Killing them one by one will take an eternity. I have an idea.*]
I couldn't say that I wasn't intrigued, so I asked: "What is it?"
[*Hehe, we can cook them all, or at least most of them. What do you say?*]
'Sounds good, but how? If I use a fireball I will probably alarm all of them.'
[*You need to have more imagination. See that huge fire? All you have to do is spread it towards their huts.*]
My eyes suddenly sparkled before I remembered that I had no idea how to do it. I was about to ask Senna how we could do that when she continued:
[*You just need to reach the center of the fire and release all the mana in the form of a strong wind around you. You can use the horse to escape the fire right after.*]
Her idea seemed like it could work and I was about to answer when Ai intervened.
[Your plan will burn down the whole forest.]
Ai's words made me realize that I actually forgot this obvious detail. Then, I heard Senna speak again.
[*And what's wrong with that? Imagine all the experience you will gain as you kill everything in the entire forest.*]
Cold sweat appeared on my back when I realized that Senna already considered burning down the whole forest. Taking a deep breath, I thanked Ai and started to slowly make my way towards the closest goblin hut, choosing to ignore Senna's ramblings in my head. I peeked inside and saw six goblins that were sleeping on top of each other naked, covered in white liquid. Ignoring the disgusting sight, I stepped back and checked the other huts but the situation was not to different.
'I don't think I can kill them silently, any ideas? Preferably one that doesn't involve burning down the whole forest?'
Hearing no answer from either Ai or Senna, I started backtracking to the entrance of their camp. Once there, I climbed atop a tree and said.
'Guess I have no choice but to follow and kill them as they leave in the morning.'
[*That will take forever.*]
'It will, but I'm not burning down the whole forest.'
[*Tsk.. Do whatever you want.*]
For the next week, I kept following goblins out of their camp before killing them while resting at night. I also leveled up once again.
[
Name: Ethan Knott
Age: Avatar 18;
Race: Avatar Human;
Experience: 600/2 000;
Health Points: 110/110;
Mana Points 110/110;
Level: 8;
Vitality: 11;
Strength: 13;
Dexterity : 10;
Intelligence: 11;
Resistance: 10;
2 free stat point
———
System Points: 100;
Spirit: 810 (610);
]
This morning, as I was waiting for the next group to leave the camp, I noticed some strange movements inside their camp. A goblin, taller than the rest, surrounded by all the other goblins, formed a group and appeared to be leaving the camp.
'Oh, are those the last of them?' I thought as I started counting. There were a total of 56 goblins in the group. Feeling that I had a pretty good chance, I circled around and climbed a tree in the direction they were going in. I planned to wait and ambush them here. I grabbed my fire staff in a hand and waited for them.
The group soon appeared in my vision. Seeing them all grouped together, a feeling of sadness and excitement, at the same time, started building up inside me.
'They really need a better system to confirm kills in the adventurer's guild'
Sighing I added the two free points in intelligence and started channeling all the mana inside the staff. Once I was left with only 30 mana left, the staff actually started cracking inside my hand. Afraid that it will explode in my hand, I launched the football sized fireball straight at the goblins. A huge explosion followed, a lot bigger than I was expecting, the shockwave even throwing me down from the tree.
I lifted myself up from the ground and waited for the explosion to die down, afraid that, in the end, I still ended up setting the forest on fire. Once the explosion ended, my worries went away as I looked at the huge crater on the ground. Everything in a radius of fifty meters from the point of impact turned to dust.
'Damn, I didn't expect it to be this strong. I almost killed myself.'
[*It because you formed the spell using an excess of mana. If you would have cast this spell using your body and not your staff you would have exploded from the inside.*]
'Couldn't you have told me that before?'
[*Oh, come on. You were in no danger and your face the moment the fireball exploded was priceless.*]
I sighed at her words and made my way towards their camp while asking Ai.
'Ai, how long until I level up?'
[256 experience.]
'Hm, I should be able to get that much on the way back.' I said as I started checking up the goblin camp for anything of value. After looking through the small huts and not finding anything of value, I walked up to the hut of the leader and saw that it was also empty.
'What the hell? Nothing?'
[They probably took everything of value with them when they left the camp.]
'Oh, so I wiped out the loot as well?' for a moment, magic didn't look as great anymore. Sighing I made my way towards the tree I used to observe the camp for the last week and picked up the bag with all the goblin ears. I managed to collect around 150 goblin ears in total.
After picking up the bag, I cast Zephyr and started rushing towards the town at the edge of the forest, killing every goblin I found on the way. Once I reached the town, I already leveled up and managed to collect 20 or so more ears.
[
Name: Ethan Knott
Age: Avatar 18;
Race: Avatar Human;
Experience: 5/3 000;
Health Points: 120/120;
Mana Points 100/140;
Level: 9;
Vitality: 12;
Strength: 14;
Dexterity : 12;
Intelligence: 14;
Resistance: 11;
1 free stat point
———
System Points: 100;
Spirit: 950 (750);
]
Once inside the town, I booked another night at the inn and spent the night reading more about magic before falling asleep. Early the next morning, I walked out of the town and made my way back to Cloven City on top of Zephyr, choosing to visit Pine Village on the way as well. A bit after noon, Pine Village appeared in my vision. Seeing that everything looked all right I slowly made my way inside. Two guards suddenly blocked my path with their swords drawn and said:
"Remove your mask and state the purpose of your visit."
'Fuck, I forgot about the mask.'
Sighing I canceled Zephyr and fell on the ground before saying as I lifted my hands up.
"I'm sorry, but I can't remove my mask. I just heard that something happened here and wanted to check if everyone is alright."
The guards seemed relieved that I canceled my spell but didn't withdraw their swords and said: "There are no more problems here, but we aren't allowed to let anyone suspicious enter, and you, sir magician,..". He let his voice trail off at the end but I understood his meaning.
"No problem. Is the adventurer guild master here by any chance?"
"No, the leader already left a couple of days ago. He is back at Cloven City."
"I see. Then I won't bother you anymore and go to Cloven City." Saying that, I cast Zephyr again and climbed on top of it. The guard were gawking at me with their eyes as round as saucers. I pretended not to notice as I turned around and rode towards Cloven City.
[*Show off.*] Senna's voice broke the dumb smile that appeared on my face.
'Oh, come on. I wanted to do that since the first time I figured out silent casting.'
Senna snorted at my words as I continued on my way to Cloven City. After an entire week in the forest hunting goblins, I couldn't wait to reach the city and take a day off.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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