Chapter 26: Goblins Afoot!

This was the second time that Renan had entered the boundaries of the infamous Dark Forest and into its gloomy depths. But previously, it was only Ars accompanying him in that journey to the wilderness, and it got pretty dangerous that they literally almost died. And even though Renan knew this was just a video game and they were in a virtual world, his survival instincts still push him to stay alive. To put it into his perspective, dying is a horrible thing to experience, and if he could help it he wouldn't enter this forest again just to needlessly die.

"So, adventurer Renan, which way to the goblin base?" Goblin Hunter asked while turning to him.

"Yeah, I'd like to see how formidable the monsters really are in this game." Alec added as he punched his fists together.

Thankfully, what brought him much relief was that he had two additional party members to help him out if the same incident were to take place. Like the old saying goes, 'It's always better to have more pairs of hands than one'. With these two joining his expedition team, Renan felt like it would be a breeze to stroll around the outer regions of the forest.

Thus, he couldn't help but smile in an easy-going manner while speaking: "I can see that you guys are very eager. Alright then, it won't take long now as we're already coming close."

The trees were more sparse in this area and were unevenly gathered together. They could feel a light wind brush past them and rustle the leaves as they approached the large tree stump of the goblin base.

"Halt!" Goblin Hunter suddenly declared while stretching out a hand to block them.

"What is it?" Ars was the one who asked the obvious question.

Raising his head and looking around him, Goblin Hunter informed them with a grave voice: "Goblins at foot… and we've been surrounded."

"They're behind us!" Alec suddenly shouted.

And as if that was the trigger that shot the gun, numerous goblins swiftly appeared and jumped down from the branches of multiple trees. When they landed squarely on the ground near Renan's party, the hideous midgets snarled and bared their yellow teeth at them. Then, without a moment's delay, the goblins raised their weapons and charged at them from all fronts.

"Dammit…! Miss Ars, quickly cast a blockade to stop the goblins from in front of us! Alec, you take care of our behind!" Renan immediately shouted orders at his party members.

But as for Goblin Hunter, he was already out of their circle and racing towards the goblins on the left side.

"PREPARE YOUR HEADS FOR ME MONGRELS!" The manic man aggressively yelled while hacking down his sword at the nearest goblin.

Since there was no other choice, Renan let him be and went to take care of his side of the four-man circle. He counted about six to seven goblins running towards him carrying sharpened knives, spears, and short swords in their hands.

"Miss Ars, after you're done with your spell I need you to help Alec deal with the goblins behind us!"

Without waiting for a response, Renan pressed hard on the ground beneath his feet and rushed at the oncoming enemies. At the same time, he could hear the earth rumble behind him and the sounds of steel clanging against each other.

'Wild Power!'

Next, he activated the skill he recently bought from the third floor of the Adventurers Guild. Instantly, he could sense a surge of unknown power coursing throughout his whole body.

(Wild Power, Active Skill Lv.1)

Mana Cost: 5 MP (Until Deactivation)

Cooldown Time: 5 seconds

Effect: Draw in the power of the ancient Faelbeasts unto oneself, amplifying 2% of physical damage to the user but consumes mana every second.

Using the newly acquired explosive strength, he clawed the face of the goblin in front of him with matchless speed. It screeched pathetically from the deep gashes left by his claw weapon and then ate a full roundhouse kick.

Afterward, another goblin let out a battle cry and swung its short sword directly at his torso. But fortunately, he was quick on his feet and managed to sidestep out of the way. Alas, there were not only two of them but seven. The remaining five also launched their attacks and successfully landed their hits from different parts of his body. He finally took some damage, but that didn't stop him from dishing out his own.

'Fury Swipes!'

A quick series of hard claw attacks were bombarded towards two of the goblins who were quite close to him, dismembering and disemboweling them like fish on a chopping board. Three down and four more to go, and yet, before he could move multiple arrows shot towards him. A few managed to pierce his body so he swiftly fled for a moment while taking out a health potion.

After gulping it down and throwing the bottle away, he glared above him and saw several goblins perched on top of the trees with bows and arrows in hand. Things were looking dangerous for him and his companions.

"This is not good..." He muttered while gritting his teeth.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything to them at the moment when he was in the middle of a fight. And while he was thinking of a countermeasure, a flaming bolt suddenly shot overhead and landed on one of the trees where the goblins were.

His eyes twinkled as he watched the whole tree burn down in less than a second while the goblins caught on fire along with it. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw Ars already preparing to cast another spell to shoot.

'Seems like I have no other choice but to leave it to Miss Ars for now...' He thought while breathing out a sigh of relief. 'The good thing is, these goblins don't have much coordination going for them and are sloppy with their shots.'

Just then, a blade brushed past him as he narrowly dodged it by a hair's breadth. He sent the rude goblin who disturbed his thoughts flying with a frontal kick before swiveling around to lacerate another one coming for him.

'Okay, let's focus and take care of these suckers first. And I can already tell that there are still more waiting behind those rocks Miss Ars erected… This is going to be a long, drawn-out battle.'