Author's Note: Now that the chapter about Luscia has already been published, let's move on to the last chapter of the day and, sadly, the entire week. We are picking up with what Alex was planning to do once he reached the nest of the rather intelligent goblins. We also got to see some adventurers looking for the same nest so, what is going to happen? The next chapter will be dropping next week on Monday! Enjoy!
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As I was planning on how I should be fighting the intelligent goblins Calido found, I was also making sure to follow Calido all the way there. According to him, there is a cave where their main home must be. If it is a cave then, I can utilize Calido's powers to their fullest.
Did you know that the thing that is most likely to kill you when you are in an enclosed space that is burning is not the fire itself, but the smoke and other deadly gases and chemicals released into the air by the burning fire?
If those gases and chemicals don't kill you, then the lack of oxygen will kill you instead. Probably in a much faster manner as well. Combustion relies on the presence of oxygen to react with a combustible fuel, such as wood or vegetation, to create heat and light energy which is called fire.
If the goblins are trapped in the deepest part of the cave then, ventilation will most likely not be fast enough for fresh air to reach them so, they die of either oxygen deprivation, or by burning to death. That is, if I am able to strike when most of them are in the deepest chamber. Another factor is whether I can actually hold them off long enough or trap them inside.
There are a lot of things that can go wrong, but I'm the kind of guy who can take a risk. Wait, no I'm not. I was the kind of guy to carefully analyze every bit of information and then act, right?
...
Luscia, you're not the only one to have changed after reincarnation after all, huh?
(Hey, you were thinking about a plan, right? Do you have any bright ideas so far?)
(Why am I the one coming up with our strategies? Can't you think about it as well?)
(I'm the one who will be doing most of the work so, I should at least let you be able to think of a plan so that I can do all of it later.)
Oh my Death God.
I really, really, really need to get a Divine Beast which inherits my amazing intellect, and soon. If I keep hearing this sort of stuff and keep remembering that this is just an exaggerated trait of mine then, I might start doubting whether I am actually worthy of living this second life.
After I finished telling Calido my entire plan, we arrived at the nest of the intelligent goblins. I spread my tendrils as far as I can to check the locations of everything that could be important. Calido said that these goblins built things so, it should be reasonable to conclude that they have been able to craft some weapons for themselves, right?
It should also be reasonable to assume that, even though they are slightly smarter than the average goblin, they might still be forgetting to bring important things with them inside. There should be some things like weapons or shields or something left behind.
Just as I thought, there were a few clubs scattered around here and there with one shield. Oh, much fewer than I anticipated. There should be a lot of them here so, it is kind of terrifying to know that only a few of them forgot their weapons here. Maybe their brains have been hard-wired to always carry something that can be used as a weapon.
Anyway, I also scoped out the rickety scout towers they made and, what a surprise! There are actually one or two goblins at the top of every tower. They are also all equipped with bows and arrows so, I should do this stealthily if I am going to have a chance at getting in. The optimal way to take all of them out is to shift into their shadows and use Sonic Punisher to slice their heads off as quietly as I can.
(You'll have to wait here a bit, Calido. If we get too close, they will sense your aura and sound the alarm.)
(Fine, I'll wait until you have finished up. Then I can go beat up the stronger ones inside of the cave, right?)
(Yup.)
(Thanks.)
It is good to give some motivation. Even though that motivation is the promise of fighting strong opponents that might kill me if I'm not careful enough. I don't think I ever had that much love for fighting, did I?
I pushed that out of my mind as I got closer. My shadow shift still has it's 10 meter distance limit, even in my new life. So, I had to get much closer to the towers if I'm going to pull off a Sonic Punisher. I ducked into the bushes and crawled on the ground to get closer.
After crawling as close as I could to the nearest tower without getting spotted, I shifted into my shadow and used Sonic Punisher on the goblin. The moment I sliced it open, I let myself and the goblin's body fall back into it's shadow and back into the bush.
Goblins have a good sense of smell so, I should finish this up as quickly as I can. I kept doing the same thing until the only tower left was the one that had two goblins. They also seem to be panicking a bit as they finally realized that their comrades are missing.
I shifted into my shadow and used Sonic Punisher to slice off the the hand of the goblin which was holding their emergency horn. I then proceeded to use Howling Impact with the momentum of being shot upwards by my ability to slam both of them off the tower. Once they fell off, I followed them down and used Sharp Knocker to slice one of them into half.
When the other one started to run away, I used my tendrils to grab onto it while it was solid, catapult myself towards it and cleanly killed it with a piercing thrust to the head. After I made sure it was dead, I pulled Aether out and flicked off the remaining blood left on it's surface.
Once I finish eradicating all of these goblins, I'll take a long bath in the river. I'll also make sure to thoroughly clean Aether as well as it is my first, and very shiny and beautiful, sword. Wait, am I some sort of clean-freak? Or am I just straight up appearance-conscious?
Alright, let's get back to the killing.
(Hey, there's footprints at the entrance of the cave.)
(Of course there are. Goblins are always coming in and out of this place.)
(No, I'm not dumb enough to point that out when I know there are goblins here. I meant that there are HUMAN SHOE PRINTS here.)
(What? Impossible. There is no way they got in without triggering the alarm system.)
(But, maybe there is some sort of magic that lets them become invisible? Or an ability which confuses the enemy's senses?)
(Sure, that is a bit more plausible but-)
*Faint Screaming*
Oh...
What?
(See, there are people in trouble inside!)
(Frick, I need to get inside and save them. Wait, I just got a better idea. Calido, I need you to get inside and start covering yourself with flames to get the attention of every goblin inside. How long will it take you?)
(It should take maybe... 20 seconds if I run as fast as I can.)
(Then, go! Once you see my shadow tendrils, create smoke so that they will be forced to come outside, in a fair playing field.)
(Okay!)
I send Calido inside to distract the goblins. I could have just grabbed them all without sending Calido in but, they are most likely either being held together by goblins or are close enough to hold onto them. I don't want to have to fight all of them hand-to-hand so, I'm hoping that one of the people inside has the Earth attribute so that they can seal the cave and the smoke from Calido will kill them.
"Disguise will be needed, right?"
I heard a voice near me and instantly turned around with my hand on Aether's handle, ready to pull it out of it's sheath. When I checked with my tendrils, the only thing there were a couple of birds. Near them were... human-shaped dummies?
I came closer and felt that these dummies were wooden and were the size of an adult. The voice said something about a disguise, right? I wrack my brain and take off my jacket and let it auto-fit onto the dummy.
I then pull it off and put it on me. Before it could auto-fit, I quickly used the shadows of nearby objects to fill in the spaces and make myself seem larger. I just made my entire body into that of an adult by using shadows to fill in the space. Oh yeah, and Luscia gave me a set of clothes, not just my jacket so, I'm pretty much I am now an adult version of myself.
I then remembered what I was doing earlier and sent tendrils into the cave. The cave is dark so, my tendrils will have higher power and speed. I was able to then find a few people and grab them with my tendrils. I pull back as fast as I possibly could until they reached the outside.
Once they were outside, I checked to see if they were alright. I also tried to make my voice as deep as possible. I mean, it would be weird if I was saved by a kid with amazing clothes and a shiny sword. So, this should be good, right?
"Are you all okay?"
"Yes, thanks to you."
"Thank you, mysterious man."
"Yup, we owe our lives to you."
"Don't get complacent yet. Do any of you have the Earth attribute?"
"I do."
"Then, create a wall covering the cave on my signal."
"Why not now?"
"A friend of mine is still inside."
"A friend?"
"Speak of the devil."
I then felt Calido running out of the cave with my tendrils. The moment he came out, I shouted the signal.
"Go!"