Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 162
Chapter Title: The Four Goblin Prodigies
Southern goblin village origin.
A red goblin named Aren, boasting an unnaturally massive size compared to the other goblins found there.
Northern goblin village origin.
A white goblin named Joa, emanating chilling white frost unlike ordinary goblins and boasting high magic affinity.
East and west goblin village origin.
A black goblin named Bibl, freakishly swift on his feet with an exceptionally keen sense for aura.
Finally, adding Mob to the mix for a total of four.
These were the goblin prodigies handpicked by Havel.
Havel brought them all back to the goblin village where he had once served as chieftain.
Each one possessed unique traits and distinct personalities.
Yet even these exceptional individuals were still just goblins in the end.
They could barely handle a single kobold on their own.
No matter how much they were dismissed as the lowest of races,
why could even the most talented goblins barely defeat one kobold?
The answer was simple.
"You have no idea how to apply the abilities you possess, nor do you know the first thing about combat techniques."
Havel laid out their shortcomings plainly before the four goblins.
Goblins had no concept of combat techniques.
All they did was grab stone axes and charge in a mindless swarm, swinging wildly.
At best, setting traps was the limit of goblin ingenuity.
So how could they possibly fight properly even against kobolds?
Especially when they didn't even know how to utilize the calamities and aura they innately possessed.
They were doomed to be slaughtered time and again.
This was precisely why inherited knowledge passed down through generations mattered so much.
More often than not, the collective wisdom accumulated by a group over ages surpassed individual enlightenment.
"From today onward, I'm going to teach you how to overcome those deficiencies."
Among the four goblins who heard Havel's words, the red goblin Aren raised his hand.
Having scavenged who-knows-what to eat along the way, he was three times the size of an average goblin.
Naturally, his strength was immense as well, making him an idol among the other goblins.
"Aren, if you're raising your hand because you're hungry, I'll punish you for every second you keep it up."
But Aren had been cursed with a terribly dim wit from birth.
"Sorry. My bad."
Instead, his instincts were the sharpest among them.
He obeyed Havel's every word without question.
And with good reason—on the very first day they met, Aren had charged at Havel headlong and been utterly crushed.
Strength was law.
Aren had become a goblin who followed Havel's commands unconditionally.
"Havel, can I learn from you too?"
Next, the white goblin Joa raised her hand.
Like the clever goblin Mob she'd met at first, Joa was remarkably intelligent as well.
"You'll learn the basics from me, but magic will be taught by Elashiya."
Joah's defining trait was her high magic affinity.
Havel planned to solidify her foundations before handing her off to Elashiya.
"Dragon magic..."
Joah's eyes sparkled quietly to herself.
She had shown intense fascination with Elashiya ever since laying eyes on the dragon.
In truth, it would be human magic, not dragon magic.
But given her level of interest, Havel decided to keep that detail under wraps.
"I wanna learn fast! Teach me anything!"
Perhaps tired of the drawn-out conversation,
the black goblin Bibl jumped up and down in place, shouting.
He seemed like the hot-tempered type.
"Alright, then before we start the lessons."
Havel tilted his head back.
At that moment, Elashiya began descending from the sky.
The sight of a dragon coming down from the heavens.
Even though they had ridden on her back all the way here,
all four goblins lost their wits every time they saw Elashiya.
Their ingrained instincts made their bodies shrink at the mere sight of a dragon.
"Here you go, Havel."
Elashiya landed soon after and unpacked a massive bundle she'd brought.
Out came materials that would serve as ingredients for spirit medicines.
Every single one was a rare, hard-to-procure luxury item.
Havel pointed at them with a sweep of his hand.
"These are what you'll be eating from today on. Elashiya will distribute them daily, so chew them thoroughly and swallow every bit."
"Food! Awesome!"
Aren shouted in excitement, his red skin practically glowing.
But the other three weren't quite as thrilled.
The pungent, acrid stench unique to medicinal herbs assaulted their noses.
Among those three, Mob was the first to step forward.
Compared to the others with their strong personalities, Mob had a relatively ordinary appearance.
But when it came to muscle quality, he was the best of the bunch.
"I'll take my share."
Mob's greatest strengths were his courage and endurance.
Havel gave Elashiya a nod.
She promptly selected the herbs and handed them to Mob.
Mob received three types in total.
The Musongwi lizard—tree vine-tailed lizard, too tough to swallow without boiling.
The Bulhyeopcho—discord weed, which oozed sticky sap that clung to the mouth the more you chewed.
And Cheonbaeksa—heavenly hundred snake, whose adult form held the deadliest poison, but whose young were the purest tonic.
Mob chewed and swallowed all three right there on the spot.
His face twisted in revulsion, on the verge of tears,
yet he chewed thoroughly and forced them down.
In that moment, Mob felt an unprecedented surge of vitality.
These were the highest-grade herbs for building a foundational physique.
And Mob was innately strong in yang energy.
With the herbs filling that aspect, his body grew even more robust.
"This is..."
"The optimal result from leveraging a goblin's traits."
As Mob stared in astonishment, Havel explained matter-of-factly.
"I'm hungry. Gimme mine quick."
"Me too! I wanna eat!"
"Please give me mine too."
Thanks to Mob taking the lead and demonstrating the effects,
the other three showed a completely different reaction from before.
It was Mob's influence.
Havel gave Mob a brief smile.
The little guy might have more leadership potential than he'd thought.
'Having a central figure makes advancing so much easier.'
His mild personality made him all the more suitable as the core.
He could empathize with everyone else's quirks.
Mob was bound to influence the other three quite a bit going forward.
And so, Havel's intensive training with the four goblins truly began. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The goblin village where Havel resided, and the nearby kobold village close to Reti.
Lately, a certain opinion had been circulating in this kobold village.
It was none other than the call to exterminate the nearby goblins.
The kobolds who had raided the goblin village Reti not long ago.
Not only had a significant number been killed by stones,
but one of the kobold village's three great leaders had fallen to a goblin.
The kobolds viewed this as an utter humiliation.
As a result, they executed every kobold that had fled from the goblins.
Punishing them for the disgrace of losing to goblins.
The fleeing kobolds felt deeply wronged.
They had desperately insisted to the end that a dangerous goblin lurked among them.
But the other kobolds refused to accept it.
Kobolds were only marginally smarter than goblins, after all.
No matter how truthful their words,
no one would listen to cowards.
"Burn the goblin village!"
"Kill them all!"
In the end, the kobolds resolved to invade the goblin village of Reti.
Having suffered a defeat once before, they assembled a large force of kobolds this time,
to ensure the goblins wouldn't get cocky.
"It's a massacre!"
Mounted kobold cavalry on wolves took the lead.
They raced down the mountain at high speed, heading straight for the goblin village.
They aimed to be the first to arrive and trample the goblins.
But soon, the charging cavalry kobolds had to rein in their wolves.
What they saw was a towering barricade.
"...What the?"
The lead cavalry kobold reacted with confusion.
A high wall densely built of wood and stone.
No matter how agile the kobolds' wolves, they couldn't scale that height.
There definitely hadn't been any such wall until recently.
Why had one suddenly appeared?
As the cavalry kobold puzzled over it,
a goblin atop the wall spotted the kobolds.
The goblin blinked in surprise,
then casually picked up a nearby weapon as if it were nothing.
It was a bow.
A weapon the old stone-slinging goblins would never have dreamed of.
The goblin nocked an arrow with practiced ease, drew the string taut,
and released.
Ping!
The arrow flew straight for the cavalry kobold in an instant.
It struck the dumbfounded kobold square in the face,
Crack!
piercing his skull and pulverizing his brain.
"Gek, grk."
The kobold uttered a strange gurgle before tumbling from his wolf.
Instant death.
"Up top!"
"A goblin... shot an arrow?!"
The other cavalry kobolds reacted with shock.
A goblin firing arrows?
It was unprecedented, leaving them stunned.
But that shock quickly turned to rage.
A kobold had fallen to a goblin again.
An intolerable affront—they had to punish them immediately.
The cavalry kobolds drew crossbows in unison.
They unleashed a volley toward the wall.
The goblin ducked behind the wall the moment the bolts flew.
With such a tall barricade and arrow defenses prepared,
the goblin took no damage whatsoever.
But oblivious to that, the cavalry kobolds kept firing gleefully.
"Smash the wall!"
At the same time, they began hacking wildly at the barricade with axes.
No matter how sturdy the wall, it was still made of wood.
Relentless axing would eventually bring it down.
How long had they been mindlessly chopping?
Boom!
Suddenly, the wall began pushing outward toward the kobolds.
It could only mean the gate was opening.
"Stupid goblins!"
Thinking the goblins had opened the gate in panic as the wall seemed about to collapse,
the kobolds sneered and thrust their heads inside.
That was when it happened.
Spears thrust out from within the wall in perfect unison.
The spears impaled the kobolds and their wolves in a flash.
"Kraaak!"
"Kyaaang!"
The coordinated spear assault was ferocious.
They had been defenseless, swinging axes wildly.
For them, it was an unstoppable onslaught.
"R-Run!"
"We're gonna die!"
As a result, the very kobolds who had just decried the fleeing ones as shameful
now fled in terror, instincts overriding all else.
The goblins who had thrust their spears watched the scene and let out a chuckle.
"Kobolds are so dumb."
"How do they even survive being that stupid?"
Until recently, being ravaged by kobolds had been their daily reality.
Now, the goblins were the ones mocking kobolds.
And this change was far more profound than anyone imagined.
The hierarchy between kobolds and goblins was slowly reversing.
But the kobold assault was far from over.
The cavalry kobolds were merely the vanguard.
The real battle with the main force still loomed.
Enraged by their vanguard's rout, the kobolds grew even more fervent.
"Kill all the goblins!"
"Show them the terror of kobolds!"
They marched on the goblin village, morale sky-high.
Utterly unaware of the fate awaiting them.