Still, they offered complicated nods before ruffling the shrubberies as they spread in ambuscade.
The satyr's hooves reverberated against the soil, leaving goat footprints behind as his figure rocketed to the camp.
Adam heard the wind whoosh, fists clenched around his rusted sword's pommel and determination straightening his short back.
A few seconds later, thundering roars spread across the tranquil forest, shattering its peace.
His eyes narrowed in focus as the ground carried the vibration of the vengeful goblins chasing the satyr.
Excitation and fear melded in his drumming heart. He could already see their green, distorted faces and almost smell their putrid breath.
The moment they reached their position, he roared.
"Now!"
Claws bared, he propelled himself out of the tree's shadow, lunging at an unsuspecting enemy like a tiger out for blood.
And blood he drew.
He collided with the short creature his size, plunging his natural weapons into its neck. They rolled on the ground, the scarlet liquid flying everywhere.
The sound of flesh tearing filled his ears, followed by the crunching of bones breaking.
But he had no time to focus on them. They had nineteen more to kill, and he would not let his subject do the hard work while he seeped a cocktail.
A steelly glint flashing in his eyes, he crushed the goblin's trachea before leaping to his feet.
However, the spectacle his eyes fed him chilled his beating heart.
"ARGH!"
BOOM
A scene of pure chaos unfolded. The djinn's fiery body illuminated the forest like a demonic beacon. Viciousness distorted its face into a grimace no human ever wanted to see as each strike he delivered ignited its crying enemies in a sea of fire.
On the side, Garduck's fists blurred with lethal precision. The shattering of bones and the snuffing of a life echoed each of his blows.
Even Shihan's shadows slithered around the goblins before puncturing them like sharp spikes.
'Why am I still the weakest?!'
He thought, brows twitching as he gazed at Bart.
The vigorous herder didn't bother with any subtle techniques nor used energy. His thick, bulging arms just gripped an adversary. As he would do with a chicken, he twisted its neck on both sides before ripping its spine out in a bone-chilling spectacle.
Just like that, before he could find a second target, the entire goblin wave littered the brown soil, turning it red with each second crawling by. A metallic tang turned the air sticky as the wind carried the smell of death to fill his nostrils.
A tremor jolted him awake, and his eyes narrowed into determined slits.
'I need to become stronger. I won't let them outclass me that much!'
The thought reverberated with his gamer's mentality, making it an obsession. Being weak was not a problem. However, remaining in this state was a sin, especially for a lord.
Fist clenched and jaws tightening, he walked to his subjects.
"Is anyone wounded or tired?"
Even if he knew they weren't and noticed the glint in their eyes, screaming they hadn't had enough violence, he still asked for the form.
"We're all good to go."
Shihan nodded, a gentle smile stretching her lips.
"We should find more camps and raid them head-on after this one. We aren't satisfied."
Garduck pushed the others aside and walked to him, blood filling his eyes.
Adam tapped his finger on his lips and closed his eyes, a pensive frown creasing his brows.
After a moment, he snapped them open.
"I've heard your demand."
He turned to the satyr, pointing towards the forest.
"Scout the area around the territory. Report any camp, its inhabitants, species and population. If we can overpower them, we'll do it."
He could ignore his subjects' demands and rule however he wanted, but why would he? He would take them with gratitude if they made sense or pointed at a mistake he might have committed. After all, no one was perfect.
'I'll need councillors with diverging opinions at some point. But it's for much later.'
He pushed future concerns down as the satyr's back shrunk in the distance.
Then, he took a minute to check the kill notifications.
[Your subject, Garduck, Djinn, Shihan, and Bart, defeated 19 Lvl4 goblins. You have gained 76 experience points.]
[You have defeated a Lvl4 goblin. You have gained 4 experience points.]
[Congratulations on levelling up. Please check your interface and decide how to distribute your points.]
LVL: 3
Exp: 47/80
HP: 50/50
Vitality: 3->5
Strength: 3->5
Agility: 3->5
Demonic essence: 2
Free attribute points: 6->0
After distributing his points, he felt a horrible strength course through his enlarging blood vessels. Despite his unchanged appearance, he knew his short size served as a cruel deception because he felt apt to punch a grizzly to death with his imp's arms.
Without dwelling on the improvement too much and feeling the demons' restlessness, he stomped his foot, his nails leaving a gouge in the soil, and marched onwards.
"Work together to kill their leader. Djinn, you stay out of the fight!"
The djinn almost burst in outrage at the command, his fists tightening and eyes erupting flames of fury.
However, he remained firm in his decision as the smell of charred corpses filled his nose.
"You are too strong for these small fries. I want you to be our secret weapon, watching by the side and interfering if things go south."
'And I want to retrieve their carcasses, not a burned mishmash! Who asked you to burn them?!'
An inner scream hidden behind his confident facade resounded in his mind as the djinn's fury diminished.
With a subtle glance back, he noticed how its fiery chest rose and puffed with pride in a silent boast to his comrades as if saying: Even if I can't fight, the lord recognised I'm the strongest!
Everyone snorted as they followed him, raring to indulge in their natural impulses.
'What a troublesome race...'
He sighed, stepping through the rough wooden barricade protecting the camp.
In the middle, he noticed a goblin twice as big as the one they had just defeated. Its bulging arms clasped a horrible obsidian cleaver of surprising quality, forcing the question: where did these creatures get their equipment?
Even the demons he summoned wore regular clothes, not to mention that he was still bare chested.
'I'm poorer than a bunch of random goblins...'
Somehow, the desire to indulge in violence to vent his building frustration crossed his mind...