Chapter 56: Forest Rift - The Fourth Son of the "Gigu Tribe," Agu

Mukua, the hobgoblin, had never heard of such a power before. However, he knew that among humans, some possessed special abilities called "innate talents."

One thing was certain—the young human before him was undoubtedly a formidable figure in the human world.

Mukua occasionally stole cautious glances at him, but the human hardly seemed to care.

Why would he?

Who would bother worrying about a dead man... oh, wait—a dead goblin?

Now that Mukua had revealed so much information about himself, there was no way the human would let him live.

The only reason Mukua was still breathing was because he could provide valuable details about the goblin settlements in the outer regions of the forest.

The Next Day

Lyle dragged Mukua along as he continued his mission to level up.

However, this area had already been mostly cleared of goblins. Unlike in games, goblins weren't NPCs that endlessly respawned in fixed locations.

After half a month of slaughter, even creatures as dim-witted as goblins would have realized that something was hunting them.

The results were clear.

Despite spending an entire hour searching, Lyle barely earned around 200 experience points—far less efficient than before.

"Are you sure there are no more goblin settlements nearby?"

Lyle tossed Mukua onto the ground before him, his gaze cold and sharp.

"N-none left... Lord Human," Mukua stammered, pressing his hands to the ground, his head bowed in submission. His voice trembled as he carefully continued, "All the goblin tribes in this area... have already been wiped out by you, Lord Human."

After a moment's hesitation, he added cautiously, "If you want more goblins, you'll need to venture deeper into the jungle."

Thud.

Lyle rotated his wrist and plunged his iron sword into the soft earth. Tapping his fingers against the hilt, he considered his next move.

Going deeper into the jungle was out of the question.

Fighting ogres was one thing. But trolls? That was an entirely different problem.

His most powerful attacks were purely physical, and trolls possessed terrifying regeneration abilities. Against them, physical damage was heavily reduced in effectiveness.

In anime adaptations, troll regeneration was already extreme. But in the novel version, even when the Overlord blasted away half of the troll elder Guu's head, it fully regenerated within moments.

According to the Overlord himself, even if Guu's body were reduced to nothing but minced flesh, as long as time was given, he would recover completely.

Such an absurd regeneration ability made trolls the natural enemy of warrior-type fighters.

Thinking about how troublesome trolls were, Lyle decided it was best not to provoke them.

Besides, the troll elder Guu was at least level 30—far beyond what he could handle right now.

"With all this noise in the outer region, have I already drawn the attention of the trolls?" A serious thought flashed through Lyle's mind, and his expression grew grim.

"Let's go."

Grabbing Mukua once more, Lyle resumed his search for goblins and other monsters in the forest.

He had no intention of venturing deeper—staying in the outer region ensured he could retreat quickly if anything unexpected happened.

His initial provisions, which were supposed to last a month, had already been mostly consumed.

Fortunately, the forest was rich in wildlife. He had three wild boars stored in his inventory, so food wasn't an issue.

Even his dwindling water supply had been replenished from a nearby stream.

Just 3,000 more experience points, and his "Genius" class would reach level 10. The rate of experience gain had slowed, but at worst, it would only take a couple more days.

Meanwhile…

In the eastern region of the Great Forest of Tob—at the Forest Rift.

The term "Forest Rift" didn't refer to an actual canyon or valley. Instead, it described an area where, for some reason, the dense jungle had given way to barren land.

Such places could be created by natural disasters like wildfires, or mysterious circumstances that caused large swaths of trees to wither.

This particular Forest Rift was located where the Azerlisia Mountain Range extended into the forest, forming a rugged hill that merged with the jungle.

Under normal conditions, such terrain wouldn't prevent trees from growing.

Yet now, the majority of the land lay bare.

The few trees that did remain were in ruins—some were hacked down and scattered carelessly, others had been torn out by their roots and flung aside like discarded debris. Some were nothing but shattered remnants, splintered beyond recognition.

Not a single tree stood intact in this wasteland.

And at the lowest point of the hill, hidden beneath layers of vegetation, a massive cave loomed. Towering over four or five stories tall, it stood out starkly against the landscape.

This was the lair of the trolls.

Like ogres, trolls weren't picky about their living conditions, but they preferred dark, damp caves. Their innate night vision made pitch-black caverns no obstacle to them.

The entrance was unguarded—neither trolls nor ogres stood watch.

After all, in this region, few creatures dared to intrude.

Outside the Cave

At the cave's entrance, two tall hobgoblins, each about 1.5 meters in height with light greenish-blue skin, stood anxiously.

They repeatedly glanced toward the cave's depths, their bodies tense with fear as they waited.

Minutes passed.

Finally, a much smaller goblin—no taller than a human child—emerged from the shadows of the cave.

His complexion was lighter than the others, his pointed ears drooping slightly.

Despite his youth, his presence was notable—he was Agu, the fourth son of the Gigu Tribe's chieftain.

Seeing him exit, the two hobgoblins at the entrance reacted with shock and excitement.

"Agu! Are you alright?" one of them stammered, his voice shaking with both concern and disbelief.

After all, they were from the Gigu Tribe, and Agu was the chieftain's son.

"That was too dangerous..." the other hobgoblin muttered, his tone filled with worry. "If you keep doing this, you'll get eaten by the trolls!"

Agu looked up at them and forced a smile, though it was strained and filled with disappointment.

Seeing his expression, the two hobgoblins instantly understood.

But they weren't surprised.

If anything, they had expected it.

"Trolls don't care about things like this," one of them whispered. "They only see us as food."

As he spoke, his eyes darted toward the cave's depths, his body instinctively shivering in fear.