Mark was speeding through the forest. It has been two days since he left Pharia in search of goblins. Of course he didn't plan on going against Goblin Leaders as of now. The threat level of a Leader is between level 15 and 20 and from his level ups he got 5 statistics every time. He couldn't be sure if it was the same for others, or even for monsters for that matter. But he was sure that with the bonus statistics the Leaders he couldn't really contend with them.
He was planning on killing as many of the weaker goblins as he could and leveling up a couple of times before thinking what to do next. While roaming the forest there were a couple of times that he saw other groups of adventurers, and decided to test how his [Stealth] fared against humans. Most of them were getting restless and visibly nervous when he was in the distance of about two meters from them.
Even then there were a couple of exceptions. A couple of scouts and rangers went on alert and started looking in his general direction when he was five meters away from them. During that time he found a couple goblin scouting parties of three. It seems that what he encountered was exactly one such party. Their levels varied but most of them were between levels 1 to 3. With occasional levels 4 and 5. They were very weak coupled with him almost always having the advantage of a surprise attack, they stood absolutely no chance. Also it seems that their perception is much weaker as they only had an inkling that he is closing in when he was only a meter away. At this range they couldn't do anything to stop him from killing them.
It was morning of the third day he was out in the woods, and he had supplies for at most another three days. He decided to roam a little bit more and maybe search for a Goblin Leader and try his strength against it. And then head back to Pharia. While eating breakfast he looked at his status. He has leveled up twice and improved a couple of his skills.
Name:
Mark
Class:
None
Level:
3 -> 5
Experience:
3/160
MP:
10 -> 12
SP:
24 -> 30
Strength
8 -> 11
Agility
11 -> 16
Constitution
8 -> 10
Intelligence
5 -> 6
Finishing his meal, he stood up and started making his way towards a small goblin camp he saw yesterday. It was pretty well hidden so it shouldn't have been found by other adventurers yet. After prowling for about forty minutes he finally saw the camp. It looked untouched and it seems that the goblins were still sleeping. Without thinking any further he made a lap around the camp to check if there was something he missed and after that Mark entered [Stealth]. He knew that the camp was headed by one of the Leaders. In that regard it was one of the smallest camps that had a Leader with only 37 goblin subordinates, while another two Leaders he had found during his stay in the forest had at least 70 subordinates each.
He decided to get rid of the leader first and then take care of the other goblins. With his capabilities he could kill all the goblins in their sleep, but he wasn't sure how good their senses were. If the leader smelt the scent of blood in the air before he was done he would have to fight with a high level opponent as well as the small fry. On the other hand he had much higher chances of taking care of the sleeping leader and not an enraged one. Also, if he got rid of the leader than he could retreat at any moment, the normal goblins weren't able to catch up to him if he wanted to leave.
The goblins lived in tents made of animal fur. Without any need for investigation he instantly went towards the biggest tent in the middle of the camp. Not one goblin appeared to know of his existence within their camp. Cautiously entering the leaders tent he saw a goblin bigger than any other around. He was about 1,5 meters tall and besides that the only other feature that differentiated him from his brethren were the green tinges on his feet and the soles of his feet. Not wanting to dally any longer in case the leader woke up he started slowly walking in his direction. When he was only one meter from his target, the goblin suddenly opened his eyes and without thinking lunged at Mark with a dagger which appeared out of nowhere. You could see a sneer of ridicule on his lips. The look in his eyes was as disdainful as it could get.
But… before it could see the target of its attack and the one that dared to sneak into his tent he felt a sting of pain. He looked down and saw the tips of two daggers protruding out the front of his front. One through his heart and the other from his belly. The pain was so overwhelming that he wasn't even capable of screaming. He opened his mouth as far as he could trying to yell for help, yet to no avail. Behind him stood Mark with a cold look in his eyes his lips forming his own smirk of derision, the moment he walked into the tent, he instantly knew that the Leader wasn't sleeping, his breathing too full and even. That's why, when the Goblin lunged at him, he instantly activated his ability [Quick Step] to dash right behind his back under the monsters blade.
He stabbed one dagger in his kidneys, as the pain from being stabbed in them is so great that the victim isn't even able to scream. The other instantly went between the ribs and pierced the heart. Without any delay he withdrew the dagger in the goblins kidneys and stabbed it into its throat. The goblin almost instantly lost most of its blood. A patch of urine staining its crotch permeating the air in its stench.
He was glad that during his hunting he ascertained that even though much smaller, the goblins had an identical build as that of the humans. After making certain that the goblin is dead, he went out of the tent. It seems that his plan worked. For now none of the goblins were roused from their slumber. He started walking to each tent and killing the goblins one by one. In one of the tent a Goblin a little bigger than the other stirred awake, as if on instinct, but when he opened his eyes the last thing he saw was a glint of metal and glowing ice blue eyes looking down at him without any mercy. When he was done there was only the stench of blood, piss and feces filling the whole camp.
He once again walked into the leader goblin's tent for a quick search and was pleasantly surprised when he found a pouch with a couple silver coins and about three dozen copper coins. With that he took one last look at the dagger in the goblins hand and after seeing that it was in a much better condition that his old dagger he picked it and went on his way. The rest of his day he spent on culling the rest of the goblins in the forest.
There wasn't that much to do really. It seems that the adventurers did a good job, even when he was checking on the other camps, one was completely destroyed with mutilated corpses of the goblins strewn everywhere. While the other camp was in the midst of destruction with only the leader and a couple other goblins left. He even tried to snag the leader kill, but before he could arrive an arrow with some strange light particles on it tore through its skull. With that the Group of adventurers made quick work of the other goblins and went on their way. With nothing more to stay around for, he went on his way back to Pharia. After making one camp for the night he arrived at the town. This time though Ralph wasn't on watch. It made sense. He couldn't stand here all day every day, right? He showed his AT to the guards at the gate and entered the town.
As it was already pretty late, when he entered the Dancing Goblin it was almost completely full. And it seems that the meal time just arrived as everyone was just getting started on their food. Mark found an empty spot by the bar, and waited for Bald Joe to come back from the kitchen. He didn't have to wait for long, after about a minute Joe walked through the doors with six plates placed on his arms. When he saw Mark he smiled to him and after distributing the meals he grabbed a mug and started to clean it with a piece of cloth strapped to his belt, even though the cup was already perfectly clean, he walked to Mark and asked.
"Watcha need boy?"
"A meal and a mug of ale for the start would do. I would also need a room for some more time. About a week for now."
"Hah, you got some more coin on you now boy don't you?"
"Heh, and how do you know that old man"
"What old man! I am not that old ok? And it is pretty obvious, I can always smell coin, what have you got there. Sniff, sniff… About 8 silver I would say Aint' it."
"Damn, you are good. So, what with my meal."
"Coming right away brat. Just you wait."
Mark couldn't be sure, but he somehow felt as if it was warmer around him all of a sudden.