Chapter 84: All Are Elites
Rachel's retort made Eileen's face turn pale.
She certainly understood what kind of fate awaited them.
No wonder Rachel had previously warned never to allow oneself to be surrounded by goblins.
However, the five were unaware that deep in the darkness, a pair of eyes was watching them.
Just within the depths of the forest, less than twenty meters away from them.
Behind a large tree, a faint shadow could be seen.
The shadow hidden behind the tree was Li Meng.
"This feels a bit like the sword-and-magic professions in fantasy novels!"
Secretly observing the human adventurers around the campfire, Li Meng thought to himself.
Two men wore armor, with weapons by their sides: a sword and shield, and a battle axe.
They were likely knight and warrior professions.
The last man wore brown leather armor and a hood, with a finely crafted short bow lying beside him.
The bow had a small blue crystal embedded on it.
The two women wore robes, one black and one white.
The white-robed mage was probably a cleric-like profession, judging by the religious ornament on her chest.
The black-robed mage was likely the typical magic caster seen everywhere in fantasy novels.
Both had staves with crystals embedded on them.
In the forest, Li Meng carefully observed the stats of the five.
[Crystal Apostle (Elite)]
[Level: 59]
[Strength: 517]
[Defense: 719]
[Agility: 481]
[Magic: 161]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
These were the stats of the knight. His stats were almost on par with the Swamp Crocodile King.
[Crystal Apostle (Elite)]
[Level: 51]
[Strength: 769]
[Defense: 417]
[Agility: 609]
[Magic: 371]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
The warrior's strength was also remarkable.
[Crystal Apostle (Elite)]
[Level: 71]
[Strength: 214]
[Defense: 171]
[Agility: 811]
[Magic: 887]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
The leather-armored man was the strongest among them. His stats leaned towards agility and magic.
[Crystal Apostle (Elite)]
[Level: 39]
[Strength: 13]
[Defense: 9]
[Agility: 11]
[Magic: 1273]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
"Indeed, mages are glass cannons!"
The black-robed mage's stats made Li Meng silently comment to himself.
Finally, Li Meng turned his attention to the cleric.
[Crystal Apostle (Elite)]
[Level: 21]
[Strength: 9]
[Defense: 11]
[Agility: 8]
[Magic: 917]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
[Crystal Magic (?)]
This woman had learned way too many skills.
The cleric's long list of crystal magic skills left Li Meng speechless.
"No wonder they dared to venture deep into Goblin Forest. They're indeed strong!"
While impressed by the group's strength, Li Meng was also deeply aware of the goblins' weakness.
Among the upper-tier goblins, only the Goblin King reached elite rank.
All other goblins were of ordinary rank.
There had to be ranks stronger than elite.
Li Meng recalled the "Saint" rank of the black-robed mage.
The Saint rank's strength clearly surpassed the elite rank by an enormous margin.
"How are we supposed to play against that?"
Just thinking about humans far stronger than the elite rank gave Li Meng a headache.
"No matter. Let's first test out human combat methods!"
When the time comes, there will always be a way forward. For now, he could only take one step at a time.
The future conflict between the tribe and the expansion corps of the Irisis Principality was inevitable.
Surely, there would be "Crystal Apostles" similar to these adventurers in the human armies.
Collecting combat data on "Crystal Apostles" in advance was absolutely necessary.
In the darkness, Li Meng silently retreated into the deeper parts of the forest.
Time slowly passed, and the night grew deeper.
The campfire in the forest continued to burn, never going out.
The adventurers did not all fall asleep.
The five took turns keeping watch.
Four rested on the ground while one kept guard.
By the campfire, Rachel held his bow, gently polishing the bowstring with a smooth cloth.
Suddenly, Rachel's expression shifted as he stood up, staring intently into the depths of the forest.
Seconds ticked by in silence, the forest utterly still.
"Was it a small animal?"
Standing by the campfire, Rachel muttered softly.
"No!"
Rachel's face changed as he drew his bow and nocked an arrow.
The moment he released the string, a gust of wind burst forth.
A small wind blade shot out with a piercing whistle, slicing through the air towards the forest.
"Waah!"
The next moment, a goblin's cries of pain echoed from the depths of the forest.
In the forest, a goblin fell to the ground screaming, its entire right arm severed from the shoulder.
The cries of their companion enraged the goblins lurking nearby.
"Waah!"
The dark forest erupted with the goblins' angry screeches.
"Get up, it's goblins!"
Hearing the familiar "Waah" roars from the forest, Rachel quickly woke his companions.
The four startled awake, jumping to their feet.
"Whoosh!"
At this moment, the sound of countless arrows flying through the air came from the forest.
"Captain!"
Rachel shouted as he rapidly loosed several magical wind blade arrows, each cutting through the forest.
Several goblins were instantly split in two, some decapitated, others sliced in half.
Wherever the wind blades passed, shrubs were cleaved in half.
"I've got this!"
The volley of arrows made Odyssey's face turn serious as he rushed forward, raising his shield.
"Stone Wall!"
A golden barrier of light suddenly expanded from his shield, forming a glowing magical shield five meters wide and three meters tall.
The light shield dispelled the surrounding darkness.
Numerous arrows shot from the forest struck the shield and were deflected.
"Are these... crossbow bolts?"
Looking at the arrows on the ground, Rachel's face turned grim.
"Not good. Martha, full defensive magic!"
Just as Rachel spoke, the sound of arrows whistling through the air came from all directions.
Martha frantically waved her staff.
Seeing it wouldn't be fast enough, Eileen raised her staff and chanted, "Arkanuha!"
The harsh, commanding incantation echoed through the forest.
A whirlwind suddenly rose around the group, visible to the naked eye, sweeping up leaves and dust.
The arrows flying towards them from all directions were blown away by the gale.