Before Rin makes a move, he takes a look at the trees to make sure there are no goblins hiding on top of them. He didn't spot any so these 6 should be all of them.
He is still a little too far to create the mud-terrain so he walks closer to them with the machete in the right hand and the spear and staff on the left.
They eventually notice Rin but didn't approach him. Since Rin is coming towards them, they let him take the initiative and will retaliate when he gets closer.
After calculating that he was close enough, Rin summons a wave of water with all his mana and moves it towards them. The area became muddy in no time at all. He drops the staff and sprints toward them.
The goblins were surprised but quickly regain their composure. They are aware that they have to watch their step or else risk slipping.
They exchange words in a language that Rin didn't understand then they carefully got into a 'U' formation. Two each lined up on the sides while two stayed the in middle. All 6 of them were also wielding knives
Their strategy was a little obvious to Rin. They were hoping for him to enter that formation and get surrounded. They had to play defensively thanks to the mud so this is the best plan they could come up with.
But all Rin had to do was aim for the sides first. He went for the left side and quickly cuts down the first goblin with the machete. The second goblin strikes at Rin but he dodges and slices his neck.
One of the goblins said something to the other 3 then they all lined up side by side. They slowly move towards Rin in an attempt to attack him simultaneously.
Rin positions himself to the left end of their formation. Now he's only facing one goblin and the rest will take some time to fix their formation. Rin defeats the third goblin with a stab to the lungs.
Seeing that the situation is getting worse, the 3 goblins throw their knife simultaneously at Rin in an attempt to injure him and gain an edge, however small.
But the knives seem to be slowed down in his eyes. It wasn't extremely slowed, like slow motion, but only by a small margin. It could just be the goblins had weak strength, but Rin had a feeling that it should normally be a little faster than this.
He dodges the knives by a hair's breadth but 2 did manage to graze him, causing a small cut on his right arm and torso. They made a risky gamble but it caused them to become unarmed. It wasn't long before he cleaned up the last three.
-----------------------------------------
[6 Tier 1 goblins has been slain]
[+12 exp]
[Level up]
[Level 5 🠖 level 6]
[Exp: 8/13] 🠖 [Exp: 7/15]
[+2 stat points]
-----------------------------------------
The goblins this time around were a bit calmer and more collected than the ones before. They even respected the terrain, acknowledged its potential threat, and tried to salvage the situation the best they can. This gave Rin a little bit of insight: not all goblins will fight the same, this applies to other species as well.
He continues to reflect on the battle as he collects the cores. He realizes that the agility stat may have been the reason why the knives seemed slower. Now that he thinks about it, their attacks were a little slower as well but he hadn't noticed it. He speculates that the agility stat makes his brain work faster, making time appear slower in the process.
'It's a plausible theory. After all, how could someone with 1000 agility control their movement if they have the reaction speed of a regular human? I wonder if the other stats also have any hidden boons…'
After gathering the cores and recollecting his stuff, Rin heads into an unoccupied house to wait out his mana regeneration. Then he puts 1 point each into mana and agility, for a total of 13 mana and 10 agility.
He was starting to get hungry again so he finishes the rabbit stew, then he searches the house for anything useful but found nothing worth noting.
He decided not to take any more canned food since he already grabbed quite the amount before, but he ended up taking a few more anyway. He even fit 3 canned tuna into the thermal container he used for the rabbit stew.
He heads out after an hour and even defeated a few sagens on the way.
-----------------------------------------
[9 Tier 1 sagens has been slain]
[+9 exp]
[Level up]
[Level 6 🠖 level 7]
[+2 stat points]
[Exp: 7/15] 🠖 [Exp: 1/17]
-----------------------------------------
Rin puts a point into mana and agility (14 mana, 11 agility).
The police station is finally in sight after walking for a little while longer. The street ends in the distance where Rin can see the 2-story building and numerous cars in the parking lot. He grabs the binoculars and the sight that he saw was dreadful.
Piles of human bodies can be seen near the building, some were whole while others were in pieces. Multiple heads are skewered in a pole that is left for display like it was a show of glory, but the heads didn't belong to humans.
They belong to other fantasy creatures that Rin has never seen before, such as a hyena with 3 eyes or a black dinosaur-looking creature with feathers on top of its head. Rin immediately takes cover behind a car after he discovers the ones responsible for this bloodbath.
They are humanoid creatures with a lion's head. Fur grows on their entire body. The males with the mane stand at 2.5 meters tall while the maneless females are about the same height as Rin, 1.75 meters. The males are bulky and muscular while the females are slim and dexterous.
The males wield weapons varying from swords and shields to war hammers, whereas the females wield daggers and bows. They all wear light leather armor that covers their torso and legs, no shoes are worn.
Rin gives them the nickname 'lion-head' for now. Multiple lion-head can be seen outside doing various activities. There are goblin-sized lion-head children playing while the adults contribute to their tribe. One can be seen crafting arrows out of bone meanwhile an elder is speaking to the kids like he's telling a story. Rin even witnessed a hunting party bringing their spoils into the building.
After a couple of minutes, a lion-head brings 10 living humans outside from the building. They weren't handcuffed or restricted in any way because they pose no threat whatsoever and can't escape even if they tried.
5 humans are lined up on the street while 5 female lion-head stood behind them with a bow in their hands. A brown male lion-head roars at the humans and points to the street, signaling them to run.
The humans run with all their might in a straight line. After they pass a certain distance, the 5 female lion-head readies their bow and shoots them.
None of the arrows missed their target, but one landed in the head, causing 4 of the female lion-head to glare at the one who hit the bullseye. The lion-heads watching from the side cheered with such excitement that it sounded like they were marching into battle.
The other 5 humans line up next and 15 lion-head children stand behind them with daggers. Some lion-head can be seen talking to the children, almost like how a parent gives their children a pep talk before their grade-school soccer game.
Rin, who is still behind cover from a distance, decides that this is a good time to bounce. This round is most likely just practice for the kids so it might not end as quickly as the first round. He was afraid that one of the humans might run in his direction and thus reveal his location.
Rin didn't follow the street but instead rushes in between buildings for concealment. He finally got out of that area after some time passes and arrives at the park where he found the 6 goblins. He breathes a sigh of relief and walks back in the direction of home at a more casual pace.
After taking a few steps, however, a sudden roar can be heard from behind. He turns around only to discover a lion-head standing a few meters away with its eyes locked onto Rin.