Goblin Slayer

[Reawakening: Sorry for no uploads, I was swamped with work. Resuming the normal schedule and the promised bonuses ASAP!!!]

-

After finishing his workout at the OptiQli Academy, Alden quickly rushed home. His mom and dad were shocked at the news, "You actually passed?!"

To Alden's dad, the idea that his son, who never left his room, could pass the combat test of the most influential martial academy in their city was inconceivable.

Even though martial arts wasn't a popular hobby, working out was. Almost every young person who cared for themselves would try their hand at OptiQli's test, but only 1 of them would pass every month!

Alden helped his parents around the house before everyone had dinner. It didn't take much to convince them that it was the game's benefit.

"It's because Realms is so realistic. I fought tens of people in my first few hours and even a few monsters! I learned a lot."

Sometimes, a lie was what the doctor ordered. 

As soon as the trio finished dinner, Alden rushed to his room. Today, he planned to earn enough money so that his parents wouldn't feel worried as they did in the past.

When he put on his simulation visor, he entered the world of Realms Online.

"You blessed ones always disappear so randomly... anyways, leave my shop," Sherica's voice sounded as soon as Alden spawned in.

Alden only nodded at her and left. 'I probably shouldn't log out in other people's property next time...'

The excitement from crafting the Trashy Poisonous Molotov simply made him forget.

Still, he just didn't have enough to get a workshop of his own just yet.

Upon leaving Sherica's small shop, Alden checked his notifications. He had quite a bit to look through. 'A few are just messages from Baron and the others...'

Alden casually replied and found what he had been looking for.

System: "Sold 1 'Serpent Nest Clear Method,' 10,000 bytes deposited to your account."

System: "Sold 1 'Serpent Nest Clear Method,' 10,000 bytes deposited to your..."

System: "Sold 1 'Serpent Nest Clear Method,' 10,000 bytes deposit..."

A wide grin formed on Alden's face. He sold the clear condition 12 times, and earned 120,000 bytes in a single day! That was his own father's annual wage, and enough to live comfortably for a year!

'By now, the price for heat-resistance potions should have hiked up,' he thought.

With haste, the creator rushed to the town's auction house. Here, players could sell items and others would bid to obtain them. The only downside compared to selling it randomly was that the auction house took 15% of your profits.

Still, its location alone would make up for that.

Alden scheduled 5 listings of 5 common heat resistance potions, each scheduled 30 minutes apart. The minimum price was 20 copper, and if everything went well, he'd earn more than 1 silver every 30 minutes!

'Even with 5 silver on top of what I already have, I still won't have enough money to nurture Anya's talents. I have a long way to go before tomorrow,' Alden thought.

If he wanted to nurture a talented poison master, Alden would need at least 30 silver during this stage of the game. Just enough to buy a small property in Cedar Town and turn a room into an alchemy workshop.

For now, Alden only had 5 silver and 30 copper.

'To earn that money, I can only craft items. But, what a newbie creator like myself can craft at this stage of the game is... not much. Not only can I not get recipes that are easy to craft near Cedar Town, but materials are a problem too...'

Although he had materials, it wasn't enough to finish an item. With so many red-snake scales and 15 naga scales from the Serpent Nest clear, to make anything worth selling, he'd need more materials.

Thankfully, he knew just the place.

Nearby Cedar Town, there was only a single place to grind materials. The town had no mines and only had a field of herbs and boar leather.

'But they do have goblins. Goblins commonly steal from weak merchant NPCs, killing them can net iron ore, stone, wood, and sometimes even weapons,' Alden remembered.

Although, at this stage of the game, goblins were simply too dangerous to grind. Most goblin nests had a chief, which was the equivalent of a mini-boss. On top of that, goblins, at the lowest, were level 4!

Even Alden would die if he made an attempt. Except, he had a plan.

To raid a goblin nest, Alden didn't even need to prepare. With the oil-drenched robe's agility boost and one other item, he could guarantee success. So, Alden rushed to the nearest nest he knew of.

-

Not far from Cedar Town, Alden could be seen in front of a small hole in the ground. 

"Seems it's just as I remember it..."

That small hole was a nest of goblins. Goblins would normally nest in caves, but since there weren't any caves near the roads of Cedar Town, they chose to simply dig out their own.

'While it's more difficult for them to climb out, it's also pretty difficult to discover, plus its easier to expand.'

Normally, when goblins built their own nests, the colony's numbers were much higher. The monsters bred like rabbits and had no issues digging out a few new rooms.

Alden simply pulled an item out of his inventory. 'Time for a good harvest...'

A few sparks flew as Alden lit part of the item on fire, and dropped the item into the hole.

'1... 2... 3... now?'

"BOOM!"

The sound of an explosion echoed from the hole, and purple gas started to come out of it. Immediately, Alden retreated.

"Glad I found a use for the molotov!"

The item he used was the very same Trashy Poisonous Molotov he created the night before. If he used it in the goblin nest, it wouldn't be easy for the poison gas to properly ventilate. Effectively, he could kill every goblin there.

Of course, some would try to exit the nest, but that was simply an opportunity.

"Kreuk!!!"

A small, green monster with yellow teeth, yellow eyes, a bald head, and long, pointy ears erupted from the small hole. Instantly, it set its sights on Alden! 

Retrieving a small, bone-crafted dagger, the monster rushed at Alden!

[Goblin Infantry: Lv. 4, Common, HP: 160/210]

Knowing that the level 4 monster was weakened due to his poison, Alden quickly gave two chops with his axe to its head. Both landed right on the green monster's dome and due to its small reach, it couldn't land a hit on Alden as it turned into light particles.

["Goblin Infantry" defeated! You received 130 experience!]

Like this, every goblin rushed out of the den, one at a time, offering themselves to Alden. Some died without him dealing the final blow, unable to resist the poison-congested nest.

["Goblin Infantry" defeated! You received 130 experience!]

["Goblin Archer" defeated! You received...]

Soon, Alden was no longer receiving notifications, and goblins weren't appearing.

'Are they all dead? No, I haven't seen the chieftain. Maybe it plans to die in the nest?'

It was also possible that this poison didn't bother it much. It was a mini-boss-level monster after all.

After waiting for the poison to ventilate from the nest and pocketing his drops, Alden widened the hole and jumped inside. He quickly noticed tens of barrels and boxes lying around and knew that he entered material heaven.

'I can gather these after I handle the chieftain...' Alden reminded himself.

The goblins were simple-minded, and the nest didn't have any winding paths or anything. It was practically a large hallway. 

And at the end of that hallway, there was a large room. Alden rushed toward that room, preparing a common recovery potion in case anything went poorly.

When he entered the room at the end of the hall, he was greeted with the sight of a uniquely large goblin. It wore leather armor and had a crown of feathers resting atop its head. Beside its throne made of dirt, a giant stone cleaver was stuck in the ground.

As soon as Alden entered the room, the goblin's red eyes glowed, and it picked up its cleaver.

"Kruk!!!"

[Hobgoblin Warrior: Lv. 4, Vassal, HP: 400/900]

After retrieving its giant cleaver, the goblin rushed toward Alden! With its initial run as a boost, it leaped toward the creator!

Alden prepared his axe, ready to receive the hobgoblin's slash.

Just as the cleaver descended toward Alden's person, he activated Parry!

The hobgoblin's cleaver slid toward the ground, and Alden sent a flurry of blows at its vitals! If it were anyone else, targeting the vitals of a hobgoblin so efficiently might not be possible, but Alden had plenty of experience in that area.

The pair exchanged blows until finally...

["Hobgoblin Warrior" defeated! You received 700 experience!]

Alden's body undertook a golden glow as the hobgoblin transformed into particles of light.

What was left, was only items.