Chapter 542 - 7 Detection

I came to hunt Stone Golems, a C-Rank monster, for the first time. It’s an evolved form of the Mud Golem, and instead of recklessly hunting it alone, I tackled it with a six-person party.

The attribute matchups are like this:

Fire < Water < Lightning < Earth < Wind < Fire

Stone Golems are Earth-attribute, so we whittle down their health using Wind magic, then the other five cooperate to attack, and Terry finishes them off. Their C-Rank health and the Stone Golem race’s inherent defense made them quite tough, but since the party members here are also C~D Rank, it wasn’t too difficult.

[Acquired trait: Stamina (C).]

Dire Wolves are evolved monsters from Gray Wolves. If a Gray Wolf was shorter than an adult male’s shoulder, a Dire Wolf seemed to be 1.5 times the size of an adult male’s body.

Despite being larger than Gray Wolves, their speed was even more agile, and their attack power was even heavier.

[Acquired trait: Agility (C).]

One day, as I was growing smoothly, an Elf hurriedly entered the Adventurer’s Guild and was soon pushed out the door by someone. Terry was watching from outside, so I didn’t know what happened inside.

"Please, I beg you! Please help our village!"

"Get lost."

When the door opened, Sophia gestured for me to peek and asked what had happened.

"There’s a small Elf village nearby, and a horde of monsters is swarming them, apparently. The number is so large that they came to the Adventurer’s Guild for help."

"Is no one taking the request?"

"Well... the reward is almost nothing. The village is so small, and Elves don’t have much greed, so they don’t have much accumulated wealth. Plus, they’re proud and don’t usually ask humans for help. So, humans rarely enter Elf villages, but this time it must be really urgent."

"Hmm... I’m curious. Let’s go check it out."

"Why? The reward will be terrible, right? It’s practically non-existent."

"I just think it’ll be fun."

Elves are all handsome and beautiful and sell for high prices in the slave market. I’m not planning to make them slaves and sell them in the market, but I figured Mizri had already seen everything, so I was also scouting to see if there was anyone with unique abilities.

There aren’t many ways to go to an Elf village without an opportunity like this, so simple curiosity also played a part.

"Anyway, tell that Elf, and bring all the other guys too."

"Okay, I got it."

???

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"First of all, we’ll help, but if we think it’s too dangerous, we’ll pull out halfway, okay?"

"Yes, of course. We Elves are a race that knows gratitude. We don’t have anything to give you right now, but if this is resolved well, we will definitely repay this kindness someday."

"Alright, let’s go."

"By the way, how did you know the monsters were approaching?"

"Well... we have the ability to know the location and number of monsters."

"Oh? Really?"

The Elf seemed reluctant to mention it in detail, so I didn’t ask any further. Since I have the Black Skill anyway, I can check it myself.

They were settled in the forest, and it was difficult to move because of the dense forest, but the distance wasn’t that far, so we could arrive within tens of minutes.

When we arrived at the Elf village, we could see guards guarding the main gate with stern expressions. They recognized their companion and immediately opened the gate, but they seemed a bit wary of humans, whom they don’t encounter often.

It wasn’t a large village as I had expected, but the houses were well-blended with the trees, and the handsome and beautiful Elves made it feel like I was in another world.

Seeing the Elves and then the humans, the contrast was really striking. The villagers started whispering when they saw us, and there were Elves busily running around.

"Please wait a moment. The village chief will be out soon."

As he said, an Elf who looked quite dignified approached in a few minutes.

"I’m sorry, Village Chief. These are the only ones who said they would help us."

"No, you did well. Please come inside. Welcome to our village."

"Yes."

I followed the village chief into a house, and most of the items inside were made of wood, and it was so simple that I could hardly find any decorations or crafts.

"Please sit comfortably there."

After we all sat down, he must have been quite urgent, as he went straight to the point.

"First of all, I want to thank you. It’s rare, but recently, monsters have been coming to our village as if they were being chased. So, we were suspicious and searched in that direction, and there was a large group of Goblins.

Goblins live in groups, but they don’t usually form such large numbers. Usually, that kind of thing doesn’t happen unless there’s a Goblin Lord."

"Goblin Lord!"

A Goblin Lord is a C-Rank top-tier monster as an individual, and sometimes one is born with the ability to command monsters. In that case, it’s famous for gathering all the Goblins around it and wandering around.

So, considering the power of the group, it’s sometimes classified as B-Rank or higher.

"I see. First, I want to know how much of a difference there is between the enemy’s forces and our forces."

"Yes, of course, right? I’ll call Shara, Lena?"

"Understood."

Soon, a pretty beauty came in. She looked about the same age as Terry, and she was wearing a green cape and skirt, the Elf’s unique attire, like the other Elves.

But she was uniquely prettier than the other Elves, and she had sparkling green eyes and the Elves’ characteristic flowing blonde hair.

Her body was very slim, as is characteristic of Elves, but she had moderately large C-cup breasts compared to her slim body.

I had glanced at the other Elves, but they were so skinny that they were usually A-cups, or B-cups at most. But most of all, what was surprising was her ability.

[Status Window]

Name: Shara

Traits: Archery (S), Wind Magic (B), Agility (B), Sensitivity (D)

Skills: Wind Magic (C), Scouting (C)

Archery S was also great, but my eyes were drawn to the Scouting ability.

[Scouting: Can identify the location of creatures far away. The range that can be identified increases as the rank increases. The number of targets increases by 1 for each rank increase. The location of those designated as targets can be identified at any time within a certain distance. Current number of targets that can be designated: 0/3]

’That was the ability!’

The reason they were able to prepare for the attack early was that other monsters had charged into the village as if they were running away, but that alone wouldn’t have been enough to be sure. It was clear that they knew because they saw the monsters slowly advancing from afar with the Scouting ability.

’But that’s amazing? How far can she see?’

It took a while just to go back and forth from the village to the city. If there was even that much time to spare, she must be able to see a very long distance.

"Everyone, thank you so much for coming to help. My name is Shara. I’m in charge of the search team here."

"Nice to meet you. I’m Terry, the leader of this team."

I shouldn’t have, but Shara looked so young that I accidentally spoke informally. But apart from that, the Elves were a little puzzled.

Anyone could see that Terry was the youngest in this group, but when I thought about it, Shara also looked young among the Elves, but she was in charge of the search team, so they seemed to understand quickly.

"Our forces are about 40 people, excluding children, the injured, and the elderly."

"I saw it on the way here, but you all have bows? Are there only archers here?"

"Yes, our Elf tribe almost only awakens as mages or archers even after becoming adults. Sometimes, someone awakens as a spiritist, but there isn’t one in our village right now."

Awakening is basically random, but it seemed that certain races were born with something separate. Humans are rather unique in that they have a variety of traits.

"And the scale of the enemies is at least about 500, mostly Goblins, but there are also many Hobgoblins, and the real problem is that there’s a high possibility that a Goblin Lord is leading them."

Goblins and Hobgoblins are low-level E and D-Rank monsters, but it’s quite dangerous if so many are being commanded and moving.

"First of all, we’ll do our best to help. But if we think there’s no hope, we have to be ready to run away, okay?"

"We’re grateful just for you coming to help like this. We will definitely repay your kindness. They’ll be arriving soon. We should start preparing!"

She explained where it would be advantageous to fight geographically.

Since there were only archers and mages in the Elves’ village, there was no one to engage in close combat, so the four close-range members of our party decided to stand at the front.

Sophia would support with magic from the rear with the Elves, and Alfred would immediately heal any injured people nearby, creating a strategic formation.

"Here they come."

First to come were a large number of Goblins.

"Wait a little longer."

We didn’t attack until the Goblins reached a certain distance. Attacking when they’re too far away reduces damage and accuracy. Shara seemed to have some basic tactics.

"A little more!"

The Goblins arrived right in front of us.

"Now! Attack!"

The mages all cast Wind magic at once, and the archers all rained down arrows. The Goblins instantly became honeycombs. With Sophia’s Fire magic added, the power and range were tremendous.

"They keep coming! Quickly reorganize."

Wind magic and arrows poured down, mercilessly sweeping away the huge swarm of Goblins, and the Goblins that flowed in without being killed were finished off by the four close-range members of our party.

"They’re coming again! Get ready."

Even if we blocked the Goblin swarm, they kept coming. Hobgoblins started to mix in, and we couldn’t kill them all, so they slipped into the village.

’Should I try that too?’

I was hunting mindlessly, but I could see Shara’s arrows. That’s because her arrows were special, with Wind magic mixed in. I had also learned Wind magic, so I tried infusing my sword with the Wind attribute and fought, and the Goblins instantly shattered.

Except for the single disadvantage of being close-range compared to just using magic, the mana consumption wasn’t high, so it was very efficient.

It seemed like we had roughly blocked the big wave, but the damage was considerable. The Goblins who attacked the village attacked the Elves, destroyed houses, and caused casualties.

It’s hard. Should I run away? I thought about it several times, but I quickly changed my mind when I saw Shara.

’No, it’s still manageable.’

My desire to get Shara no matter what was great. Her ability, appearance, and body were all to my liking. Just when my stamina was starting to run low, the Goblin Lord finally appeared.

He looked to be 180cm tall and boasted a massive body 1.5 times my size. His whole body was green, and he had red patterns that looked like tattoos. He was holding a very gruesome-looking axe as a weapon, inspiring fear.

’Oh, shit. My stamina is almost gone, and the Goblin Lord is only coming out now.’

[Status Window]

Name: Makgashulla

Traits: Dignity (B), Strength (C), Lust (C), Stamina (D)

Skills: Enhancement (B)

[Dignity: Those who see you feel respect. The effect increases as the rank increases.]

[Enhancement: Momentarily increases attack power and magic attack power. The casting range and intensity increase as the rank increases.]