Lennard rubbed his hands after he sold the goblin's bodies. Because of that, he didn't have to hide them somewhere which would make it very difficult and a hassle.
He picked up his shirt and wore it. The blood on the ground was enough for more goblins to be attracted here. And if that happens, he just needs to hide and wait.
"This probably wouldn't work, but it's worth a shot." Lennard had little confidence in his plan working.
It would only be a matter of time until they realize that something was wrong.
Despite that, Lennard decided to push his luck this time. "Well if it fails, I'll just run. If that also fails, I'll probably just die. No biggie."
As Lennard stood at the bushes, he heard noises coming from the camp. It seems that they sent more goblins after smelling more blood being spilled.
"Ah, I gotta hide.." Lennard jumped back into the bushes and waited.
..
Five goblins appeared this time. One was using a broken sword, three of them were using wooden clubs, and the last one was using a sharpened stone attached to a long wooden pole. It was so crude that Lennard didn't see it as a spear at first.
The goblins walked towards the spot where he killed the first three.
They sniffed around and caught the scent of an unfamiliar creature. The goblins looked at each other in confusion.
"Giyah…" One goblin pointed towards the trees.
The goblin holding a broken sword gave a short nod and approached the trees, checking if there was something there.
The three goblins holding wooden clubs held it defensively in front of them just in case something pops up from the trees.
From the back, the goblin with a spear watched them nonchalantly. He was at the back, so he's definitely in the safest spot to be in.
… Or so he thought.
The goblin saw that a shadow covered his own. And before he could turn around, everything went blurry until it turned to nothing but darkness.
> You have killed [Basic Goblin - Level: 2]
+6 Experience Points.
"Niyah!" The three goblins turned around the moment they heard their fellow goblin die.
They rushed forward and swung their clubs at Lennard.
Lennard took a step backwards and with a quick slash of his sword, a goblin was easily incapacitated. And when the others tried to attack him from the sides, all it took was a strong kick to knock one goblin off to temporarily push it away from fighting him.
This gave him the right amount of time to slash the eyes off the goblin on his left side.
By this time, the goblin on his right stood up and it was ready to fight once more. Lennard merely slashed the goblin a couple of times to render it useless. After all, his speed was a bit too much for it to handle.
Lennard killed the other two goblins before focusing on the last threat.
The goblin held the broken sword on its hand carefully. This goblin was a bit different. It looked around to see if it could run away, which is quite impressive for a creature with low intellect.
But after Lennard saw that it wasn't doing anything, he lunged forward instead.
"If you're not going to attack, then I will.." Lennard slashed his sword downwards.
Clank!
The goblin parried it before sidestepping to try and make a run for it.
"Trying to escape? Not going to happen.." Lennard slashed once more, but it was blocked by the goblin just like the first strike.
With a huff, Lennard raised his left leg and kicked the side of the goblin's chest.
Bang!
Lennard's leg kicked the upper right of the goblin's chest. The kick looked normal, but it was what sealed the goblin's fate. The kick damaged its liver which incapacitated it, giving Lennard the appropriate amount of time to kill it by beheading the goblin.
Swoosh!
Plop..
A fountain of blood sprayed from the goblin's headless body as it fell down lifelessly.
> You have killed [Basic Goblin - Level: 3]
+10 Experience Points. (5x)
"Haah.. hah… That was awesome…" Lennard breathed in and out. He felt that his sword skills weren't half bad at all. He then grabbed the bodies of the goblins and their weapons, except for the stone stalagmite.
After that, he sold the bodies of the goblins, giving him a good amount of cash.
He swiped right in the air and checked his balance.
> Balance: 33.55$
"Yeeeesss!" Lennard was very happy. He was only a few dollars short until he was able to buy the skill tree.
Just thinking of the possible skills that he might gain from it made his imagination bubble in excitement.
Lennard nodded to himself as he scattered the blood of the goblins everywhere using one of the wooden clubs. "Alright, just a few more of those goblins dead and I'll be able to-"
Out of nowhere, he heard a very angry growl of a goblin coming from a camp. And not long after he began hearing lots of goblins rushing towards his location.
"Crap, this isn't good…" Lennard hid himself once again. But after hearing the number of footsteps approaching, he didn't have that much confidence facing the goblins by himself.
"Sneaking time… hehehehe."
…
Reynald, a young adventurer sighed in his cage. His hands and feet were tied up and he was probably the next who's going to be cooked as food for these goblins.
"It's been nice while it lasted.." Reynald leaned backwards as he thought about how lamentable his luck was.
He thought that he was about to gain a great amount of cash after fighting a low leveled earth golem after killing it. But because of how tired he was when he was fighting the golem, he couldn't resist the goblins when they kidnapped him for food.
Not only that, they took his sword, his armor and tied his hands to prevent him from using magic. Unbelievable!
But just as he thought everything was over, he saw that the goblins were frustrated about something.
This was strange considering that these goblins usually don't face something that threatens them. So whatever they were going to check out must be a really big threat.
But then again, what does it have to do with him?
Reynald watched the group of goblins leave without a trace. Of course, he saw this as a chance to escape.
He looked at his cage and saw that there weren't that many goblins surrounding him. "There's only three goblins guarding my cage.. if only I had a weapon, this would be easy.."
Reynald was trying to formulate a plan that would work in his current situation.
But suddenly, a man in ragged clothing suddenly came jumping down from his cage.
Lennard jumped the three goblins with his sword and easily chopped them dead.
> You have killed [Basic Goblin - Level: 2]
+6 Experience Points. (3x)
Bling!
> You have leveled up!
+5 Stat Points
Lennard then looked at Reynald's cage before using his right leg to break his cage down.
Crack!
The wooden cage was broken, leaving Reynald in shock. Lennard threw his knife towards Reynald and said, "Get yourself out of there and help me rescue the others! I know you can use magic, so please use it!" Lennard then saw the goblins run towards him, so he had to avert his attention from Reynald and fight the goblins.
Reynald was initially surprised. But he acted quickly and used his feet to grab the knife, cutting the rope on his wrists, freeing his hands. He then grabbed the knife and cut the rope on his feet.
He stood up and ran out of his cage. He saw Lennard engaged in battle with twenty goblins, but despite the number advantage of the goblins, Lennard was able to hold them back.
"Should I just make a run for it…?" Reynald had no connections to Lennard, so why does he have to save his life? After all, he also treasures his life. He doesn't have to do this… right?
However, this thought was extinguished the moment it appeared because of his morals slapping him back to reality. "The hell am I doing? I'm not a monster.."
Reynald ran towards the cages and raised his palm towards one of the cages.
"Flaming Bullet!"
A powerful swirl of flames circled around Reynald's palm while small pieces of debris converged into a sharp earthen bullet the size of an adult human's foot. After forming in his palm, the bullet was shot towards the cage where Redford was in.
Boom!
The bullet blew the cage apart, scaring Redford inside the cage.
"Eek!" Redford was scared silly by the explosion. But when he saw Reynald enter the cage, he felt that his fear was slowly fading.
Reynald went over and cut the ropes on his wrist and feet, freeing him. "Take this knife and free the other two captives. I can use magic, so don't worry about me, got it?" Reynald grabbed his collars to get his message through this man loud and clear.
Redford nodded. "Y- yes, of course.."
"Good." Reynald grabbed a small wooden club and went to help out Lennard.
Knowing that this is an urgent matter, Redford quickly left and ran towards the two cages.
…
"Get away from me you freaks!" Lennard was having a hard time guarding against the combined force of twenty goblins. If the others return, there might be no way for them to escape.
But just as he was fighting them, a lightning bolt struck some of the goblins on his left, saving him some trouble.
Lennard smiled. "About time!" He then fought the goblins with even more ferocity.
Reynald chuckled as he channeled another spell in his hands. "I apologize stranger, let me make it up to you." He unleashed a flaming bullet towards the goblins, severely injuring those who got hit by the spell.
Lennard's eyes sparkled. "So cool! When will I get spells like that?" He felt a bit envious seeing Reynald use magic.
"But there's no rush, I'll unlock the skill tree soon enough. If only my system was more RELIABLE LIKE IT SHOULD'VE. COUGH, COUGH." Lennard didn't let this chance slip to spill his indignance towards the system.
Meanwhile…
Redford went to one of the cages carrying a wooden club. He swung it as hard as he could multiple times at the cage before it eventually broke.
"Hm?" Crain, a novice swordsman, looked at his cage being broken apart.
"We're about to be rescued, please help me save the others." Redford went over and cut the ropes on Crain's wrists and ankles.
Crain held his wrists and said, "Alright, where are the rest?"
"Out here." Redford beckoned over.
When Redford and Crain reached another cage, Crain picked up a stone stalagmite and broke the cage in one hit.
"Ah!" The woman inside the cage shouted.
Her name is Nian, a normal girl around the age of 16 who got lost in the forest and was eventually abducted by the goblins. She is the daughter of a blacksmith who dotes on her very much. Sadly, this happened to her as she was playing.
Redford went inside and said, "There's one more person stuck in a cage, help me rescue them." He then extended his arm to help her get up.
Nian was frozen for a second before realizing the severity of the situation. "Ah, yes yes, of course." She grabbed his hand and went out of her cage.
Nian, Crain and Redford went towards the last cage to free the final captive. And when Nian saw that Reynald and Lennard were holding back the goblins, she knew that time was of the essence.
Inside the cage was a sleeping old man wearing a brown hood.
Redford broke the cage using the wooden club on his hands and shook the old man to wake him up.
"Old man, please wake up, there's goblins nearby!" Redford tried his best, but the old man just continued snoring.
Seeing this, Crain clicked his tongue. "Just pick him up! Here, I'll go first." He then carried the old man on his back and said, "Help me carry his legs."
"Agh! Fine then." Redford turned his head to Nian. "Hey lady, help us carry this man out of here."
"Yes sir.." Nian nodded and helped Redford lift the old man out of the cage.
And after they got him out safely, Redford shouted to both Lennard and Reynald.
"The captives are all free!" Redford shouted on the top of his lungs as he ran with Nian and Crain.
…
"Great.." Lennard smiled as he looked at the system.
[Quest Complete!]
+30$
+100 Favorability to all captives except Reynald
+75 Favorability to Reynald
+Uncommon Grade Steel Sword
+Skill: [Dodge]
> Skill Details: [Dodge]
Ability to quickly move in one direction.
"System, that is the most basic description I've ever seen." Lennard sighed.
In his left arm, purple pixels started gathering and began constructing a steel sword out of nowhere.
Reynald looked at this sword appearing in Lennard's left hand from thin air with incredulity written all over his face.
"The hell? Where did that sword come from?" Reynald asked aloud as he casted another flaming bullet.
"You're not the only one who can do magic." Lennard laughed. Finally, he was able to stump this magic user and regain some pride for himself. "Here, catch." Lennard tossed the iron sword in his right hand as he kicked two goblins in front of him.
Reynald caught it and began to join in the fray. He no longer had to cast spells from the back and can actually participate in the battle himself.
"Finally I get to be helpful." Reynald wiped his face as he showed a cocky smile.
The moment Lennard saw this, he immediately thought that this man is the type of guy who acts as the typical bully. Seeing how smug this guy was while showing his battle prowess was already a bit too show off-ish.
If Reynald were to hear these thoughts from Lennard, he would definitely be showing a very exaggerated face of disbelief.
Reynaldo was obviously more skilled than Lennard, so he was able to rack up kills which was something that Lennard couldn't do until now because of how defensive the goblins were.
"Hey hey hey! That's my experience points you're taking!" Lennard's heart bled as he watched this.
As the two fought side by side, they soon both heard the other fifty goblins come back that were armed with sharp spears and better weapons.
"Giyah!" The goblin leader shrieked at them.
"Crap!" Both Lennard and Reynald looked at each other for a second. They knew what the other one was thinking.
"Run!"
Reynald used wind magic on his legs as he ran away. Quickly leaving Lennard in the dust.
"Trying to outrun me? Not a chance!" How could Lennard let this guy leave him here after he stole experience points from him?
"Dodge!" Lennard decided to use his new skill.
Suddenly, just as if a mysterious force possessed Lennard for a second, his body positioned itself so skillfully that it managed to maneuver such a movement that quickly propelled him forward.
Woosh!
Lennard kept spamming [Dodge] and eventually outran Reynald.
Reynald's eyes twitched. It was not because he felt that his ego was hurt just by Lennard moving faster than him. After all, from the start he never thought of competing against Lennard, that was all Lennard's speculation.
What he found unbelievable was that this man was able to outrun him without using magic!
"Who is this man…?" Reynald's mouth was hanging open as he thought to himself.