Chương 8: The Goblin Threat

I went around and looted the other remains as well. The three gatherers had dropped nothing, but I looted 12 silver coins from the rest, and finally I had something for myself as well. Goblin Scout Bow Common Level 3 Attack Power: 15 Attack Speed: +5% Restriction: Ranger Goblin Cowl Common Level 3 Defense: Light armor 5 Restriction: Art of Finesse, Art of Magic After equipping them, my stats rose quite a bit.

I was disappointed that I found no throwing daggers, but I guess you couldn't loot every weapon used against you, just like in most games. Next up, I checked both tents, but they were empty apart from a couple of rough bedrolls and a wooden table. I took the parchment I got from the inventory, broke the seal on it, and it disappeared in a flash of light. Quest log has been updated! I opened the Journal and saw that I had another active quest that wasn't there before.

Quest Log Goblin Threat Hidden Quest Goblins are no danger to the militia guarding the villages of Tidemark, but they can still be quite the nuisance to farmers and civilans, destroying property and stealing cattle. This is a report regarding the three camps in Fang Forest. Any adventurer that gets hold of one of these reports is kindly asked to exterminate the goblins, and eliminate the Goblin Campleaders in every camp.

Objectives: Kill Goblin Campleaders Quest rewards: 2, 000 EXP | 30 Silver Coins 1/3 CONGRATULATIONS! You are the first player in the Tidemark county to accept the hidden quest, "Goblin Threat". Additional rewards available. Do you accept? Yes No So the system rewards you for first completions as well? I thought. Tidemark has 4 villages where players have spawned, so that means I'm the first out of around 2, 000 players to trigger this goblin quest? I accepted the 'additional rewards.'

Goblin Battleaxe in inventory has been changed to Battleaxe of Ur'ka! At first I didn't understand the prompt, but opening my inventory and looking at the earlier drops cleared everything up. What I saw was pretty sweet. Battleaxe of Ur'Ka Rare Level 15 Attack Power: 100 Attack Speed: 15% chance to cause Bleed, dealing 10 damage per second for 4 seconds Weapon Skill: Bloody Jump Leap forward, dealing damage to all targets when you land. The less HP you have, the more damage it deals.

Cooldown: 45 seconds -5% Restriction: Berserker Now this is what I'd call a weapon! I thought. The newly upgraded axe was much more powerful, not just regarding its base stats, but the bleed effect was more likely to occur as well! The weapon skill, probably the same one the Camp leader used against me previously, sounded like an incredibly useful skill to have for a berserker. An axe like this could probably outlast its level requirements by quite a lot.

I could see someone using this weapon all the way to level 20, maybe more. In fact, as Bloody Jump was a movement skill, players could even keep this weapon after upgrading to a stronger one, and just switch to it when traveling or whenever they needed to use a leap skill. On top of all that, it didn't even cost any mana! After organizing my inventory, I went to the cave entrance. It was locked behind a gate, simple yet sturdy, unlocked by the rusty key the leader had dropped.

It was a small cavern, nothing too spacious, or so I thought at first. However, upon inspecting it further, there was a narrow pathway leading deeper into the mountains. I was expecting a chest or two, but the entrance was empty. I really wanted to proceed with the goblin quest, finish my adventurer tasks and get back to the festival to try out the events, especially the target practice, so I could get some nice rewards, but a dark pathway in a guarded cave was really hard to ignore.

As I was going along the path, it became darker and darker, and soon I could only see a dim red light. I wish I had a torch. A minute later, I got to the source of the light. It was a Flamewing tulip, illuminating the walls of the cave in crimson. It was the plant needed for the adventurer quest. So their natural habitat is caves, huh? I spent a little while collecting the flowers, and soon enough I got all 50 I needed, as they were abundant in the cave. I didn't come across anything else in the meantime.

I kept progressing through the cave, collecting the last pieces I needed when I suddenly felt a terrifying chill creeping down my spine. I froze in my tracks, barely able to move. I could feel my heart racing. It was a mix of the game's systems and my body's reaction to it. An icon appeared above my health bar. Intimidated! There's something in your vicinity that is much stronger than you! Its presence is overwhelming you. You are terrified. It wasn't a good feeling.

In Valhalla, I was at the top of the food chain, but this was an MMO where I started out as a weak adventurer. Being good with the bow wasn't enough to blaze through the game, a game that was ultimately decided by your stats, skills, equipment, and level just as much as your talent. I might have had the latter, but I was seriously lacking in all other departments compared to what was lurking in the depths below.

Dying in the game meant you lost all of your experience points you had accumulated, and I had about 30% of my experience bar full. It wasn't much, and leveling up was still easy this early in the game, but I didn't want to pointlessly risk it. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I will be back for you, whatever you are, I thought. Just give me some time first. With that thought in my mind, I turned back and reached the entrance soon after.

The goblins still hadn't respawned, although from the way the secret quest was worded I wouldn't get any progress for it if I kept clearing the same camp anyway, so I checked my map and went towards the second encampment. I kept hunting and gathering, skinning the animals I'd slain, and around twenty minutes later I had reached my destination. The second camp was like the previous one, and it had the same amount of enemies, but there was no cave, and their composition was different as well.

There were three Scouts, four Gatherers and a Goblin Camp leader, so no fighters for me to deal with. The big one was equipped with a wooden round shield and a cleaver. Because of my equipment, I was stronger than the first time I had faced the goblins, and the same strategy worked even better here. I cleared the smaller ones first and wore down their leader soon after.

The shield was problematic at first, being able to block my arrows more effectively than the axe did before, but its wielder was slower and less agile than the previous Camp leader, so ultimately I had a much easier time. I didn't get hit once. The moment I killed the last of them, the quest progressed to a 2/3 state, and just like before, the boss dropped the map with the location of the third camp. I also looted a shield and a bracer, along with some silver.

Goblin Wooden Shield Common Level 5 Defense: 10 Attack Speed: -15% Restriction: Swordsman, Spearfighter, Guardian, Paladin Rough Goblin Bracers Common Level 5 Defense: 7 Light armor Restriction: none Silver Coins (5) I collected 10 silver coins and another small health potion from the rest, and was happy to see I gained another 490 EXP from the camp, bringing me right at the threshold thanks to all the animals I had hunted on my way here.

EXP 1540/1600 Exp 1540/1600 I had also finished the adventurer quest "Pest Control", and was on the verge of finishing the gathering one as well. Quest Log Pest Control Required Rank: Copper The Adventurer's Association would like to ask all available adventurers to help with controlling the numbers of wild dogs, wild boars, giant roaches and other small carnivores in the kingdom.

Objectives: Kill dangerous wildlife (small) 100/100 Herbs for the Spring Festival Required Rank: Copper The Spring Festival had just started all across the kingdom. The residents are all eagerly getting ready with various delicious foods and drinks, but some of the ingredients are hard to come by for someone not well versed in the art of fighting and gathering. Adventurers are kindly asked to gather various herbs for the chefs working at the festive grounds in order to make their work easier.

Objectives: Butterfly mushrooms 45/50 Blue wildflowers 48/50 Flamewing tulips 50/50 Walnuts 100/100 I had actually collected way more of the herbs, especially the Flamewing tulips, just in case I needed them or wanted to sell some to others. Collecting them wasn't too hard, but most players likely didn't explore any caves yet, meaning they didn't know where the tulips grew. I had 38 more than needed, and I could make a quick buck by selling them. One camp left, and I could return to Carpa, I thought.

I immediately set off, gathering and hunting on the way once again. Shortly after, I heard a ding! Sound. ⚔ Level Up! ⚔ Attribute Points: +5 Health: +10 Mana: +5 EXP 0/2000 I spent my new attribute points on strength, bringing it up to 20. One more level and I could equip the bracers, getting another boost to my defense.

The last camp was close by, so I arrived in less than ten minutes, even though I had killed every enemy that I'd crossed paths with and had gathered the rest of the mushrooms that were needed for the gathering quest. All I had to do was find the remaining blue wildflowers, and I could tick off one more quest in my log. This camp had three tents, and I counted 11 goblins, but most of them were gatherers, except the 2 scouts at the entrance and the camp leader, which was equipped with a bow much taller than itself.

My eyes lit up. If the leader has a bow, judging by previous experiences, it should drop a level 5 bow that would be perfect for me once I gain one more level. Due to me being level 4, the gatherers meant no problem whatsoever, and even the two scouts fell faster than before. I took them all out in quick succession, and kept constantly repositioning myself, since the Camp leader kept shooting at me ever since my first attack. It hit me once when my guard dropped, and I lost about 30% of my health.

It was a big hit, but just like the second leader, this one felt weaker than the first one I had fought. Soon after, only the Camp leader remained. I successfully dodged all of its attacks and chipped away at its health bar until it only had 10% left. Everything went flawlessly up until that point. Then its HP bar turned red. It jumped backwards and took something from the belt it was wearing. A health potion?! Fortunately, it was not an HP pot.

Unfortunately, it was something akin to a smoke bomb, and the monster used it without hesitation, disappearing in the smoke. The area of effect of the item was around a 7 meter diameter circle, and from my distance I could cover all of its sides except the very back, but there was no way for the goblin to escape that way as the mountain blocked its path, so I decided to just wait until the effect wore off. Thump! I felt searing pain as a red arrow got planted in my chest.

I didn't even know where it was shot from because I paid attention to the edges of the smoke screen. The pain didn't subside as with any previous attacks, prompting me to check my status. It must have been a critical hit, as I lost about half my full health, leaving me at roughly 20%. What was more problematic, however, was the debuff icon that had appeared over my health bar: Red Plague You have been infected by the Red Plague. Damage taken: 2% of maximum health/second You are rooted!

Duration: 10 seconds Reading the debuff, I knew I was almost definitely dead. I needed to drink a potion in order not to die from the DoT effect, but drinking one took 2-3 seconds; enough time for the boss to hit me one last time. I couldn't move behind cover. The boss could shoot once about every five seconds, although the smoke could have affected its efficiency. What kind of absurd CC is this, I thought. A ten second root was incredibly powerful. However, Quick Step was not greyed out. The skill was usable.

My only chance was dodging the first shot the creature sent my way and then drinking the potion right after, before it had a chance to shoot again, so I waited. 7 seconds 6 seconds 5 seconds At that moment, I understood this goblin was way smarter than I first thought. It knew I was a dead man; why would it keep shooting? It had to stand there with a nocked arrow, and wait for the moment I tried healing myself so it could get a free hit in. I had to try anyway.

I opened my inventory and used a health potion as fast as I could. I was about two seconds away from finishing the drink when I saw the arrow coming from amidst the smoke. Good try, I thought, while closing my eyes and waiting for the attack to send me all the way back to Carpa chapel. It was disappointing since I had accumulated quite a lot of experience, but there was nothing I could do. THUMP!