Chapter 19: In the Moonlight
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19: In the Moonlight
"There’s something about 300 meters to the right."
"Something? What do you mean?"
I could hear the soft sound of small, child-like feet treading on the grass.
We were on the 6th Floor, a mountainous region. We had just arrived, and I was checking our direction by infusing mana into my identification plate as we headed toward the portal.
"Barefoot... Ah, are these goblins?"
"Did you say you only have one skill? Is it a detection skill?"
"No, it’s not exactly that. My detection abilities have improved as a side effect of the skill, but it’s not dedicated to detection."
"You must have acquired a pretty good skill, then."
"Though I have to eat things raw."
"Ah."
Lis, listening from the side, stuck out her tongue and grimaced as if she’d tasted something bitter. Lis had probably tasted Isolde’s breast milk.
I’m so damn jealous.
"I don't feel anything. Even though I have a sensitive hearing skill..."
"Shall we get a bit closer, then?"
Isolde pouted. To her, a ranger who made a living off a single detection skill, it might have felt annoying that I had better detection capabilities than her without even having a dedicated skill.
But since we were in the same party, she might as well make good use of me.
"Ah, you’re right. I can hear the goblins' footsteps now."
"I’m not sure how many there are. What do you think, Isolde?"
"Roughly... about thirty, I think. Should we veer a bit to the left?"
When a goblin horde exceeds twenty, there is bound to be at least one elite entity. Usually, it’s an individual with enhanced physical abilities, like a Goblin Warrior. With a lower probability, a magic-using entity like a Goblin Shaman appears.
"Isn't this a manageable number to fight?"
"Yoo Eon, do you have any experience fighting a goblin horde?"
"I don't, actually."
"Goblins are surprisingly tricky and annoying monsters. I’d rather not fight them if I don't have to," Lis said.
If Lis felt that way, well, there was nothing I could do. Getting to the 8th Floor without any major battles would be the best-case scenario.
"But... the path to the left is a cliffside road. If there’s a goblin village up there, it could be much more dangerous."
Goblins are stupid, but from a hunter's perspective, they are quite experienced. They often build villages on top of cliffs to launch one-sided attacks, like throwing stones at explorers passing below.
And, as the stories go, goblins are known for doing terrible things to women. Truly a horrific thought.
"Gambling is unwise. It’s no great trouble, so we’ll clear the path to the right and move through."
"I guess we have no choice."
Garond took the lead, gripping the shield and mace he had been carrying on his back. It was good to have someone so reliable, but his slow speed was a bit of a shame.
When the distance to the goblins closed to about 100 meters, they noticed our presence. This was exactly what Garond meant when he said stealth was difficult. It was a disappointing demerit—losing the advantage of a preemptive strike.
But it was fine. I had been looking for a chance to test my abilities anyway.
"Whew...!"
As I swapped my left eye for the Alpha's, a strange flow of visual information began to pour in. I could see the faint, weak glow of the goblins' mana. I couldn't coat my entire arms and legs with the Alpha's muscles yet.
In combat, mobility is key. As for my arms, the strength of a common Direwolf's muscles would be more than enough to pop a goblin's head like a grape.
I swapped both legs with the Alpha's muscles and filled both arms with the muscles of common individuals.
After replacing my lungs and heart, I took a deep breath.
The mana in my body has changed.
Though unintentional, I could even change the type of blood flowing through my veins. As the blood of the Alpha—which I had gulped down by the bowlful—circulated through my body, a mana different from that of a human's enveloped me.
"I'm going."
"Wait—"
Before Garond could finish his sentence, I lunged forward, my powerful Alpha-tier leg muscles crushing the grass as I shot out like a bullet.
BOOM—!!!
A hundred meters ahead, I saw the dark-green-skinned goblins. Thin, short limbs, grotesquely protruding noses and eyeballs. Bulging bellies and heads far too large for their frames.
I only caught a glimpse as I flew past at incredible speed, but they were still ugly as hell. Their very appearance invited violence.
"Hah...!"
Using my immense leg strength combined with my leather boots reinforced with metal greaves, I delivered a kick to the nearest one.
My plan was to send its body flying into the center of the group to break their formation and quickly whittle down their numbers...
—Squelch.
"Wait, what the hell."
I had intended for the corpse of the one I kicked to bowl over the other goblins. But the moment my foot connected, the goblin turned into instant minced meat.
BANG!!!
With a thunderous roar, bone and flesh scattered into the air. As the goblin's entrails rained down from the sky and its head finally rolled across the ground...
"Ke-kerrrrk!!!"
"Kyaraaaaak!!"
The horde of thirty goblins all turned tail and fled.
"No, that wasn't what I intended."
Even if goblin skin and bones are thin and less dense than a human's, I didn't expect one to turn into ground beef from a single kick.
Looking past the bloodstains that looked like a truck had plowed through the grass, I watched the goblins high-tailing it away, abandoning their weapons. My party caught up from behind.
"Good heavens, what is this?"
"Ugh, it completely exploded."
"I didn't mean to go this far..."
In the clearing where the goblins had scrambled away, crude stone spears and wooden clubs were scattered about. I wondered if the one who just died even realized what had happened to him.
I picked up the head that lay there with its eyes wide open; thick drops of blood trickled from its neck.
"Impressive. In my estimation, you could easily reach Gold Grade."
"Was that your full power just now? It wasn't, right?"
"It's just hard to control my strength. I think I could go even harder if I wanted to."
"There’s a totem here. It looks like they were trying to create a Shaman soon."
In the center, the skulls of horned rabbits, direwolves, and other non-mana-bearing animals like squirrels were arranged in a messy circle.
In the middle of it all was a long wooden pole topped with what appeared to be a human skull. They say that once their ritual is complete, the pole and the skull fuse to become a Goblin Shaman’s staff.
"Have you seen it happen yourself?"
"Of course not. The Scholars must have figured it all out."
Isolde said it was something she’d read in a book. Right, I was a stranger who had only been here a short while. There were already academics in this world who had studied the Labyrinth for a long time.
Most information was out there. I just didn't know it yet.
"Regardless... this means a person died."
"Well, it’s something you see occasionally while exploring the Labyrinth."
It wasn't a complete corpse, but it was a human skull. It was my first time seeing one in person, and it was a jarring sight.
"Whew..."
I calmed my racing heart and returned my body to its original state. A goblin horde of this size would have a cave for a home, and there was a thirty percent chance of finding live female prisoners inside.
"Can you tell if there’s a cave nearby?"
"I don't have that kind of ability. What about you, Isolde?"
"Shaman summoning rituals are usually held not far from their dwelling. I can narrow it down to a 1km radius... but the cave is likely in the direction they all fled."
This was my first time dealing with something like this, so I had no idea what to do. Should we find the cave and rescue any potential prisoners? Or just keep going?
"Normally... I would have suggested we stay on our path. But seeing you, Yoo Eon, it might be worth visiting the cave."
"Me? Why?"
"If there are goblin pups, we can capture and sell them. Clearing a goblin cave isn't easy, though."
"Wait, isn't rescuing prisoners the priority?"
"We don't know for sure if there are any. But there will definitely be goblin pups."
Well, our goal wasn't strictly the 8th Floor. If we could make money, it didn't really matter if it was the 6th or the 8th...
"Yoo Eon. I’ll leave the decision to you. It seems you’re the strongest member of this party now."
"Don't say that. Let's go, then."
In the end, we decided to shift our course slightly and head toward where they had fled. It would be good to catch some pups to sell. It would be even better if we could rescue prisoners.
Since everyone had seen which way they ran, tracking them was easy. It was a bit of a detour to the right of the portal's direction, but it wasn't a problem.
Garond took the human skull from the wooden pole, dug a shallow hole, and buried it. It was a meager funeral, but it was the least we could do.
Garond even prays.
Garond knelt on one knee beside the spot where he’d buried the skull, pressed his fist to the ground, and muttered something with his eyes closed.
He didn't seem particularly religious, but he said it was a custom from his homeland.
"You have a very upright character, Garond."
"To avoid being consumed by the madness of the Labyrinth, one must do at least this much."
After finishing up, we followed the trail of the fleeing goblins. The terrain was rugged since it was a mountainous area, but we easily found the path the goblins used.
After walking for a few minutes, my detection picked up the goblins again.
There’s the cave.
Their hideout was now confirmed.
"Are we going in right now?"
"Caves are dark anyway. It’ll be night soon, and that’s when the goblins' movements become sluggish."
"So we go in at night."
"Exactly."
That worked for me. I tended to get stronger at night. It was already past 6 PM, and as the sun began to set, the surroundings grew dark.
The goblins, who had been screeching incomprehensible noises in front of the cave, all went inside, leaving only two guards to face the night.
They stood guard at the cave entrance, holding crude torches.
"Lis. Can you take out one of the guards?"
"Yeah. I should kill the one further away, right?"
"Right. Yoo Eon, you take the other one."
"Understood."
Lis raised her short bow and aimed at one of the goblins guarding the entrance.
Twang!
With the snap of the string, an arrow pierced the temple of one goblin. I immediately lunged forward and drove my old knife into the throat of the other.
In an instant, both goblins were dead. The surroundings remained quiet as if nothing had happened. I spread my arms wide and puffed out my chest toward the sky.
"Hey... what are you doing...?"
Lis whispered softly from beside me.
"I'm soaking up the moonlight."
"Are you an idiot? Let's go, hurry..."
"Yes, ma'am..."
I’m a man who gets stronger in the moonlight.
It’s true.