From Arrival To Hunt - Part 3

Following the trail of blood Gwen had left during her escape, Arezu's party found the goblins' nest — a cave — in just a few minutes.

"Are you gonna be fine fighting in there, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn asked, eyeing the meter-and-a-half-long halberd axe strapped to his back.

The cave wasn't particularly small, but its rough and uneven terrain made wielding a large weapon troublesome — especially when needing to stay mindful of the surroundings.

"I can fight just fine as long as I have enough space to swing my halberd. So don't worry about me, Lynn."

"Then I trust you to watch our backs." Her words carried more meaning than they seemed to. And though Arezu didn't fully catch it, Lynn felt reassured by his confidence.

"Let's go," said Alex, the supposed leader, taking the lead for the first time.

Before entering the cave, the party paused to prepare.

"Light"

Hannah chanted. A divine blessing manifested a glowing wisp above her head. Meanwhile, Lynn prepared a lantern, lighting it with a basic fire spell — Ignite — and followed with another basic spell.

"Flame Arrow."

The flaming projectile shot into the cave, disappearing into the darkness.

It may have seemed like an odd move, but Arezu understood the reason behind it.

Goblins couldn't see in total darkness, but as monsters accustomed to cave life, they could adapt well to low light. They didn't need torches to navigate or fight underground. And if they were clever, they could set traps — like explosive gas — that would ignite if a torch or lantern was brought inside.

Lynn's flame arrow was a safety check for such traps at the cave's entrance. Meanwhile, the lantern's flame changing color would serve as a warning for any poisonous gas in the air.

Considering Gwen had been poisoned, Lynn treated these precautions seriously.

She really knows what she's doing. Arezu thought, looking away from Lynn, who was already flashing a smug grin.

With Alex and Liz at the front, Lynn and Hannah in the middle holding the lights, and Arezu taking the rear, the party entered the goblins' cave.

"Should I cast Foresight on everyone?" Hannah offered as they walked deeper into the darkness, referring to another divine blessing. But Liz stopped her.

"Don't overdo it, Hannah. You've already cast three blessings in a row."

Arezu looked ahead, curious about the implication. As expected, someone was already glancing back at him with a smirk.

"Can you explain it to me, Lynn?"

Pleased by Arezu's interest, Lynn began. Mystic spells consumed mostly mana and a little stamina. Combat skills did the reverse — mostly stamina, a bit of mana. But divine blessings were different: they taxed the caster's body directly, borrowing only a small portion of the goddess's power to manifest miracles.

"That's to be expected," Lynn added. "After all, mortals aren't made to handle divine power."

Returning to the topic, Lynn addressed the use of Foresight — a blessing that would let its target see in darkness and sense incoming attacks.

While useful, casting it on everyone would be too much for Hannah.

"We already have the Light blessing and the lantern. If you want to use it, just cast it on one person," Lynn suggested.

"Then cast it on me," Alex said, volunteering. As vanguard and primary attacker, it was reasonable. But Lynn had other ideas.

"Then I vote for Mr. Arezu."

"Why him?"

"Why me?" Arezu echoed Alex's surprise.

"Just a hunch," Lynn replied with a seemingly innocent smile — which only annoyed Alex further, as he read between the lines. She meant Arezu was better than him.

Noticing Alex's glare shift from Lynn to himself, Arezu made another suggestion.

"Then I vote for Ms. Liz"

"And your reason, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn asked — both genuinely and to prompt him to share his opinion.

"Ms. Liz's skill as a shield-bearer would let her protect anyone from a surprise attack."

"I suppose that settles it," Lynn said.

With her approval, Hannah cast Foresight on Liz — and it quickly proved useful.

'Reinforce'

Channeling mana into her shield, Liz braced herself just in time as a volley of stone bullets flew at them from the darkness beyond the reach of their light.

"Where the heck is that bastard?" Alex muttered, taking cover behind Liz.

'Search'

Lynn had avoided using her scouting skill earlier, fearing that the strange goblin Gwen mentioned might detect the mana signature. She didn't want to alert them — but with the element of surprise already lost, she activated it now.

But what she found wasn't what she expected.

"A horde of goblins is coming from behind, Mr. Arezu!"

"Deal with the one in front, Lynn. I'll handle the ones behind."

"Mhm!"

Arezu readied his halberd. At the first sign of goblins stepping into the light, he swung the weapon in a wide horizontal arc, decapitating the front line. Watching his surroundings carefully to avoid striking obstacles, he continued the assault.

Each swing grew faster, his grip adjusting skillfully to guide the halberd's momentum from one arc to the next.

Arezu cut down the entire rear assault without even using a combat skill. Meanwhile, Lynn gathered her mana.

"Ice Lance"

A single lance of ice formed above her head. While hiding behind Liz, Lynn launched it at the source she'd pinpointed with Search.

The stone bullets stopped. A pained scream echoed from the darkness. Seizing the moment, Alex rushed forward with both swords.

He wanted to show off after Arezu had handled the rear attack so effortlessly — but he found no goblins ahead.

"The heck! They all ran away?" Alex groaned.

"I guess they retreated after their leader was taken down," Liz said as she approached with Hannah.

Meanwhile, Arezu and Lynn inspected the fallen goblins.

"There wasn't another passage behind, so where did they come from?" Arezu asked. But that wasn't really what was on his mind.

"Oh my… are they perhaps in mating season?" Lynn remarked, shining her lantern over the goblins' corpses — utterly unfazed.

"At least try to be decent."

"Then try explaining this decently, Mr. Arezu."

The two weren't talking about how Arezu had split the goblins in half. Rather, it was the state they were in before — and after — dying.

"Come on, Mr. Arezu, explain it in a decent manner already!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Lynn. Just… please move your lantern away. I don't want to see that."

Other than their rusted, busted weapons, none of the goblins had any gear. Not even loincloths. Which meant their lower bodies — including their... anatomy — were fully exposed.

That wasn't unusual for humanoid monsters. What was unusual was that all of them were visibly aroused — even after death.

"To make amends, why don't you dismantle some for research purposes?" Lynn offered brightly.

"I'd rather stay ignorant than touch that!"