The Dungeon's Second Chapter
Lahan sliced through the corpses of the defeated goblins with a swift motion, revealing a small, glowing blue crystal.
It was a magic stone.
Magic Stone Acquired!
Magic Stone Acquired!
Magic Stone Acquired…
Magic Stone (Small)
An enigmatic crystal infused with mysterious energy. Could it be processed for some incredible purpose…?
Lahan handed them all over to Estella at once.
Estella accepted the stones and began inserting them into her subdimensional pocket.
It was an incredibly convenient power, and a part of him envied her for it.
I wish I had something like her pocket dimension, like an inventory from a game.
Unfortunately, even in his previous life, Lahan had never heard or seen anything resembling an inventory that could hold anything.
He clicked his tongue. From that moment on, he and Estella pushed deeper into the dungeon.
Soon they reached the two branching paths Estella had mentioned.
“What now, Lahan?”
Estella asked beside him.
She was clearly asking which way he wanted to go.
Lahan pointed at the left tunnel.
“Let’s take the left one first. If we go for the boss and elites on the right and the goblins suddenly swarm from the left, we’ll be flanked and surrounded.”
“Wise choice.”
Estella nodded immediately, as if she had been thinking the same thing.
Following their plan, Lahan and Estella advanced into the left tunnel.
There, they quickly dispatched dozens of goblins hiding in ambush.
They had only been tunneling for a short while, which was fortunate. If they had delayed even a little longer, the goblin numbers would have exploded in an instant. Goblin reproduction and growth rates were absurdly fast.
“Great. Now let’s move to the right tunnel with the boss and elites.”
“Yeah. I’ve got all the stones. We can head out right away.”
Both Lahan and Estella nodded and retraced their steps toward the right tunnel.
If he had abandoned the left tunnel just because the boss was on the right, he might have suffered a heavy defeat from the goblins after all.
Lahan was using every ounce of his hunter experience and memories from his previous life to maximum effect.
While walking through the right tunnel, Lahan fell into his own thoughts.
If I kill a boss like in my previous life, I might gain a special skill. That would be perfect.
Among all his hunter abilities, this one stood out the most.
Killing a specific entity or boss would grant a special skill.
He had never tested this, having spent all his training time without ever encountering such a being. And on this long journey, he had rarely met one.
As he advanced toward the right tunnel containing the boss, a meaningful smile tugged at Lahan’s lips.
***
After clearing the tunnel, they arrived at its end and saw the arrogant goblin shaman seated on a wooden chair, flanked by his elite soldiers.
That must be the boss.
The shaman was heavily adorned with skull ornaments, confirming he was the goblin leader.
“This is going to be interesting,”
Lahan stepped forward with a smug grin.
The shaman likely held a truly special skill. If his hunter ability activated as in his previous life and he stole it by killing the opponent, the result would be perfect.
I hope my hunter ability works properly here.
I wonder what kind of ability this goblin boss has.
As Lahan’s thoughts formed, the goblins moved.
The elite soldiers on either side of the shaman advanced toward Lahan and Estella, wielding axes and hammers the size of a human head.
“Lahan…!”
He nodded.
Responding to Estella’s call, Lahan lifted his sword and charged.
He thrust his leg forward, closing the distance in one stride, and swung his blade straight at the front.
Simultaneously, he sidestepped the descending axe and stabbed upward from the side.
It was a perfect combination of evasion and counterattack.
“Kyah!”
The goblin that had been slashed in the side staggered back several steps and clutched his wound with his left hand.
At the same instant, another elite goblin slammed a hammer into the side of Lahan’s head.
The attack was aimed for a one-shot kill.
Lahan bent his waist slightly to dodge it.
Then he twisted his hips and spun, unleashing a sweeping sword strike that channeled the momentum.
As the counter hit and the goblin recoiled, Lahan’s follow-up thrust struck.
“Kyah!”
It was then.
Without moving from his seat, the shaman suddenly stood and roared with a red light.
Lahan in front braced himself and took the roar together with the surrounding goblins.
It was Goblin Fear.
I didn’t think the goblin fear here would be this strong.
The more he watched, the deeper Lahan’s expectant gaze became.
I’ll hunt him.
Lahan’s aura suddenly surged.
Whoosh!
Blue mana condensed into a visible form around his body and clashed with the fear the shaman had unleashed.
Still not enough, the remaining force blasted the surrounding elite goblins backward with a single punch.
“Kyah!”
The shaman, seeing this, narrowed his eyes, realizing Lahan was no ordinary opponent. He raised his skull-staff.
Bells jingled.
“■■■■!”
By the shaman’s guttural chant, an unknown spell activated in red light.
“…”
Lahan’s eyes widened as the red circle struck him.
He could not move a muscle, as if bound.
This was far stronger and more certain than the previous fear.
It had to be more than an ordinary goblin spell. Since this was his first time encountering one and he sensed it was no ordinary spell, Lahan forced power into his body and began resisting with aura.
Soon he would break free on his own.
But right then—
“Remove the enemy’s restraints! Remover!”
Estella’s support magic began to pour forth.
While Lahan was distracted, Estella closed her eyes, focused her mana, and created a massive magic circle on the ground.
She winked at Lahan, who was watching her.
“Lahan, you did great. Just as you said, I’ve prepared a powerful debuff magic.”
The enormous magic circle on the ground began to glow brightly.
Estella pointed at the startled shaman and the elites.
“Don’t you dare try to interfere with a witch—!”
“Star Magic: Star Debuff!”
With her cry, the magic activated from the cave floor in brilliant light, weakening the goblins.
The elites and boss goblin alike placed both hands on the ground.
It was a wide-area debuff spell that slowed and weakened their auras, abilities, and magic.
Remarkably, it had no effect on Lahan standing with the goblins.
“Well done, Estella.”
“Hehe!”
Lahan gave a thumbs-up, and Estella returned it with a grin.
That was when—
“Krr…!”
The shaman, roaring like a beast, wrapped himself in red light and pushed back Estella’s debuff magic. He slowly rose from his seat.
“No way!”
The red light shot out from the shaman’s body like red thread, pressing the goblins to the ground and reaching the elite soldiers.
Lahan’s eyes dimmed.
He’s stronger than I expected. That goblin shaman is no ordinary D-rank or F-rank adventurer.
If left here, it could have caused a major incident in the surrounding area.
I don’t know where he came from, but I’ll handle him here.
Lahan gripped his sword tightly and faced the elite goblins who had risen.
Estella immediately cast a support attack magic.
“Fire, destroy my enemies. Fireball!”
A sphere of flame shot toward the elite goblins.
They tried to block it with their axes or raised their arms.
At that moment the shaman slammed the tip of his staff against the ground.
The skulls and bells at the staff’s head rattled.
A new spell activated at the same time.
“■■■■!”
The shaman’s spell caused the normally easy-to-slice elite goblins to move differently.
It was not simply faster.
Lahan, who had just dodged a thrust by sidestepping, watched the goblin’s eyes darken.
These guys are predicting my movements.
That was correct.
The shaman’s ultimate spell was Future Prediction, shared with the connected elites.
Under such circumstances, Lahan smirked.
“A good ability.”
Now it would become his.
Lahan partially opened the power he had been hiding.