The Art of the Hunt

The mental fatigue of swinging a weapon in combat on the 4th floor is beyond imagination. Is it similar to a soccer player running in the Champions League final? Since climbing the Tower involves life-or-death stakes, it’s certainly much worse. In combat, talent is more important than judgment, combat sense, or any task requiring prolonged concentration. I suppose I must have quite a bit of this talent.

The sensation of my hands crushing living things. The scent of blood and the bits of flesh clinging to my armor as hot, thick gore flowed down it—I felt no disgust toward such things. I was simply anticipating how the opponent would move, relentlessly butchering goblins without a break.

"Mostly junk. What a shame."

The loot you can get from goblins is limited to rusted weapons, beast meat, leather pouches filled with anesthetic, or trinkets that don't even qualify as items. I’m at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point where the lack of decent loot is more unpleasant than the act of killing living creatures.

Still, the information that these goblins were mining Black Iron Stone in the nearby open-pit mine must have been accurate, as some of them occasionally dropped the ore. I gripped my war hammer tightly, lunged forward, and swung it at the goblins within range.

-Kereuk!

-Ke-ek!

Thanks to my overwhelming attack power, the goblins died instantly, their bodies shattering or being punctured wherever the blow landed!

-Kang!

Conversely, the goblins' attacks were blocked by my armor, failing to deal any damage at all. Since my natural recovery rate was higher than the rate at which my health and mana were being consumed, this was easier than taking candy from a baby.

The mental exhaustion from the ceaseless, repetitive, and mechanical nature of the slaughter was bearable when I saw the goblins bursting apart and dying in single hits. Every time the war hammer swung, goblins were sent flying in all directions. I cut through the wave of goblins with a refreshing, powerful force, my hammer tracing a singular line of destruction.

I wasn't just breaking through a specific area; I was hunting by spraying an attractant while moving in ever-expanding circles within the Dark Forest to lure the goblins out.

'I stopped counting after about 300...'

Wherever I turned my eyes, there wasn't a spot without a goblin corpse, and the blood from the ruptured bodies had pooled and flowed into a river. It had been quite a while since I started the battle. I didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but judging by the sun high in the sky, at least three hours had gone by. Even as I thought this, my feet didn't stop.

I lifted the visor of my helmet just enough to clear my line of sight and ate some soft jerky and drank water to satisfy my hunger.

'Being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a climber is great, but the need to eat so often is a hassle.'

My mysterious physical abilities, which shouldn't be compared to those of an ordinary person, require a massive amount of calories, making high-calorie meals essential for a climber.

-Keeeeek!!!

Suddenly, a goblin 1.5 times the size of the others—nearly my own height—leaped out in front of me.

'Did it swallow a train whistle?'

The massive goblin, letting out an ear-splitting shriek, charged at me wearing a rusted longsword and some unidentifiable leather. "A knight-class variant of a goblin?"

A goblin with the build and strength of a human is much more dangerous than a regular one, but still just a monster that gets sliced up by an ordinary knight. I twisted my body to dodge the wide swing of its longsword and then swung my war hammer, exploding its head. A longsword, some poor-quality leather, and a black ore fell to the ground.

"Equipment!"

I quickly retrieved the item, which was a rare drop, and examined the leather that came with it; it was just deer hide, poorly dried and draped over the body. Since it hadn't even been tanned, it wasn't a useful material, so I decided to discard it. I stored the Black Iron Stone and the longsword in my dimensional backpack.

Just in time, my skill grade increased, allowing me to spray mana over a wide area to attack. I immediately poured mana into my weapon and unleashed it at the goblins chasing me from behind; a slash of mana flew out, piercing through them without resistance. Mass destruction by penetrating multiple targets!

"This is awesome!"

The mana consumption is massive, so I won't be able to use it often. I'll have to get an artifact for mana recovery later. Once the goblins start a battle, they get so excited that most of their usual cunning disappears. If I dodge their reckless, linear weapon swings and strike back, I can land a perfect counter. After several hours of advancing while conserving my stamina to exclude any potential risks, the goblins stopped appearing.

"Did I catch all the goblins in the Dark Forest?"

After dealing with the few that followed from behind, I could only hear the sound of bushes and branches rustling in the gentle breeze. The disgusting noise of the tiresome goblins was gone.

'I should head toward the open-pit mine.'

Before leaving, I washed my body by the river, wiped the blood off my equipment, and sprayed the Odorless Perfume I had purchased previously onto my gear and my entire body. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The faint smell of blood that remained even after scrubbing with soap and body wash vanished completely. I spent some time chewing on jerky to check the perfume's effect, and it wore off in a little less than an hour. Duration check complete.

I found a nearby goblin corpse and smeared blood on my sword to see if the scent would persist, but the smell didn't go away. I confirmed that if new blood gets on the equipment after applying the perfume, the scent isn't masked. I wiped the blood off, applied the perfume to the sword once more, and set off toward the mine the Baron had told me about.

"I'm going to need a lot of this Odorless Perfume."

The Baron said the villagers were being held for forced labor, so I should rescue them first. It wouldn't matter if I didn't, but if I started rampaging, the goblins would kill them. The Baron said that when he barely managed to break through to the open-pit mine, they dragged out several men and killed them right in front of him. Of course, the Baron said I didn't need to worry about it too much, but it's definitely worth a rescue attempt. If I fail, I'll just abandon them and run.

I'm a bit tired, but I think it's right to clear out the open-pit mine immediately. At the latest, they'll realize what happened in the Dark Forest by tomorrow, and at the earliest, they might already know. If they already know, I'll stop by the village to resupply, and if they don't seem to know yet, I'll raid the open-pit mine.

I hurried my pace while reapplying the perfume, but it wasn't until sunset that I reached the vicinity of the open-pit mine. Since I could hear the goblins from afar, I took out the necessary items.

I used the Odorless Perfume to erase my scent and applied the Sound-Absorbing Scroll to my weapons and gear. I prepared this specifically so that if I missed a goblin or if one didn't die in a single hit and started shrieking, the surrounding goblins wouldn't swarm me. Baroness Helene said that once the scroll is torn, it lasts for about 30 minutes, so I shouldn't forget that.

After tearing the scroll and imbuing my weapon with magic, I ran toward the two goblins I saw directly in front of me.

-Puck!

-Kieeeek!

As soon as I killed one with a surprise attack, the other let out a shriek. I immediately swung my weapon to kill it, sprayed the Odorless Perfume, and looked around; it was quiet, save for the occasional kereuk sound from far away. Good, the performance is solid.

I disposed of the goblin corpses by digging a hole with a shovel and burying them, sprayed the perfume over the spot, and then left the area. Since I used the Sound-Absorbing Scroll, I didn't need to move stealthily, but I moved carefully using trees and bushes to avoid being spotted by the goblins' line of sight. Since the sun had almost set and the forest was already sinking into darkness, hiding was even easier.

When I used the scroll I had kept for nighttime, mana was overlaid on my eyes, and everything looked as bright as day. Hunting while using scrolls and items without restraint feels like I'm using cheat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠codes. I drank a health recovery potion and continued to hunt the goblins on the outskirts. As darkness began to fall, lights started to flicker on one by one at the open-pit mine. No lights were lit in the forest near the mine.

'Do goblins have no trouble with their vision at night?'

I don't have the information, so I should check it now while I'm on the outskirts. Just then, I saw two goblins ahead. I circled around to the front, stepped out from behind a nearby tree, and tried moving my hands without making a sound. The goblins just stood there blankly.

'So, their night vision isn't particularly good.'

The fact that they lit fires at the open-pit mine likely means it's literally for work. 'Are goblins afraid of fire?' When Emily and Baroness Helene attacked, they showed excessive fear of the flames... It might be worth catching a few goblins to test it out, and if it works, I could use fire attacks. Still, fire attacks probably won't be possible at the mine, so I'll try to use them after the open-pit mine if I can. I slipped back into the darkness.