“I’ve finished the tactical discussions with the other teams. Yeon-hee, just do the role I mentioned earlier.”
Yeon-hee nodded after hearing Helen’s words and prepared to notch her arrow. In the distance, about 30 meters ahead, a small village with several makeshift huts that barely had any fortifications was visible.
For a settlement that was only just beginning to be constructed, there was quite a significant number of goblins. The robed sorcerer raised his staff slowly after straightening his knees.
Soon, a barely audible incantation began to be murmured, and Yeon-hee notched her arrow and fixed her aim. A moment later, the sorcerer nodded, and all of the shield-bearing tankers charged toward the village simultaneously.
When nearly twenty hunters reached the base of the goblin territory, the goblins, finally recognizing the impending attack, hurriedly grabbed their weapons and took up their positions.
At that moment.
Swoosh—!
– Kerekk?!
– Kyaek?!
The sorcerer’s binding spell was activated, and the feet of about ten goblins at the forefront were ensnared by roots that burst from the ground.
Thwam—
At the same time, Yeon-hee’s arrow arced expertly and pierced through the eye of one of the bound goblins.
Keh-!
– Aaaah! Attack!!
– Die, you filthy bastards!!
Now that the goblins were aware of our presence, there was no need to hold back. They yelled at the top of their lungs to disrupt the goblins’ attention while also creating chaos.
‘If I can take down just a few, I’ll level up. I need to move forward a bit.’
Right now, my mission was to protect Yeon-hee. But I had no intention of finishing without any rewards.
‘I gathered a bunch of rocks earlier when I had time.’
Although my strength was still low, the stones I collected were only slightly smaller than my fist. But if I can hit a goblin with these, I’ll gain some experience, right? Plus, I have the throwing skill.
[Dagger Throw]
Whoosh—
Thwack—!
– Ki-hih?!!
As a stone hit the back of the goblin’s head, it staggered and turned to me. Just then, a shield the size of a manhole cover slammed into its face.
‘You should’ve paid attention to your surroundings, you little punk.’
Crash—!
The fight between the goblin horde and the hunters was a complete brawl.
Compared to the last time when the shield guild’s hunters caused chaos, they received a little better evaluation, but they were still just low-rank hunters.
– Kyah-haa!
– Here, eat this!!
The shields, the main weapons of the tankers, shimmered with a vibrant blue mana. In between, the agile knights and rogues wielding great swords and short blades were finishing off the goblins that were ensnared by the spell.
Jingle jingle—
The rogue class’s passive trait [Steal] activated, and the goblins’ silver was seen entering the hunters’ pockets.
Thwam— Thwam—
Yeon-hee’s old bow was tirelessly sending arrows, hitting the goblins with a surprisingly high accuracy.
‘It’s not easy to pick off goblins in this chaos, but she really has great concentration. By the way, it’s about time for them to show up…’
Not long after, a small squad of agile goblins charged toward Yeon-hee. There were only three of them, but they were the most agile in the village.
But I was already carefully watching the ones circling from the outskirts. I approached in stealth and spat acidic liquid at two of them while immediately slamming [Slam] onto the head of the remaining one from behind.
– Kheh-heh!
– Kyaaah…!
The two goblins splashed with acid jumped around in panic, while the one that got hit by my club had its brains oozing out.
Snap! Crash!
The ones affected by the acid were unable to do anything amidst my club’s pounding and met their ends with a whimper. Of course, there was resistance, but my stats weren’t low enough to get caught by the wild attacking.
Agility increased, reaction speed improved, along with boosts to both strength and magic power, speeding up my movements. Soon, a faint glowing shield of blue magic enveloped me.
– Level Up!
‘I should invest in Sense next.’
—–
[Skeleton Soldier Il-wol – Lv.10]
Strength: 32 Agility: 39(+5) Health: 36(+5)
Intelligence: 24 Magic Power: 26 Resistance: 1
Sense: 21(+5) Recovery: 2
Traits: Cool-headed, Protective, Thief, 98 Lives, Adhesion
Skills: Slam, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Beginner Conversion
Equipment: Roughly Shaped Wooden Club
—–
I invested my stats in Agility and Health, and also in Sense, which I expected would increase my movement range. As expected at level 10, the amount of increase was now 2.
‘Just how far can I go…’
Step by step—
I moved about 25 meters away from Yeon-hee.
‘But I can’t seem to go any further. Alright, I’ve got a rough idea now.’
After being enhanced as a skeleton soldier, my movement range only expanded by about 1m when Sense went up by 1. But this time, seeing it extending almost 20m suggests that the amount increases as my stats rise.
‘This is enough for now. Unless I really need to be away from Yeon-hee.’
Feeling somewhat liberated from restraints, my steps became lighter.
“Il-wol, nice job!”
“Clap, Clap, Clap!!”
Even amid her hurriedly firing arrows, Yeon-hee encouraged me, and I checked the situation in the village again.
Ugh-!
‘That looks painful.’
One of the knights finishing off the bound goblins got injured in the thigh by a desperate swing from a goblin.
Blood splatter—whoosh—!
A man, having been hurt, was fleeing toward us after cleaning up a goblin killed by Yeon-hee’s arrow.
‘That’s the guy who was wrestling with that girl, Kyung-ji, earlier.’
He settled behind me and pulled out the lowest rank potion from his inventory to pour over his wound.
“Ugh… damn it, that bastard really hurts!”
While calling goblins ‘bastards’ felt more like an insult in my opinion, I’ll let it slide since it’s a colloquial expression.
“Hey, Skeleton Soldier! I need you to help me out. I’ll introduce you to a pretty female skeleton later! Hahaha!!”
‘Can you really joke like that after taking a Slam hit?’
I thought while turning my gaze back to the battlefield.
‘Indeed, that sorcerer is quite something.’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that half of the one-sided battle we’re pushing was thanks to the sorcerer.
What bugged me was the fact that the sorcerer, who initially announced the surprise attack, was also positioned behind Yeon-hee.
‘You said you’d only help with long-range attacks, but you’ve got a babysitter role too. I think I need to charge extra for this…’
I briefly glanced at Yeon-hee, but she was focused on her work without showing any signs of discomfort, even as others were injured around her.
I turned my attention back to the forefront. It was a battle between a slightly exhausted shield soldier and a goblin.
Whoosh—!
The shield sliced through the air.
Crash—!
The goblin’s club struck the soldier’s empty side.
“Ugh-!”
Getting hit in the abdomen like that can wind you and greatly reduce your mobility. But all the other teammates nearby were also engaged with two or three goblins.
Eventually, the sorcerer sighed and cast his second spell.
Whoosh—! Kyae?!
The goblin attacking the knight, who was kneeling, suddenly sneezed and began to stagger.
‘Hm?! Sleep powder? No way?’
A plant growing to the height of a five-year-old child suddenly bloomed, spreading shimmering white powder around before wilting away.
‘So that’s a talented sorcerer.’
I couldn’t recall the exact name of the spell, but it was a highly effective magic that induces sleep in monsters.
Using the goblins’ moment of confusion, the man behind me, limping, dashed forward, dragging the injured knight along.
‘What a blatant way to lure delicious prey over here.’
Not only did he not hit the sleeping goblin, but he was dragging the injured knight with difficulty, attracting all the goblins’ attention. However, that didn’t mean the goblins were going to immediately charge us.
At least seven goblins were affected by the sorcerer’s magic, either directly or indirectly, and the initial intimidation of the goblins had already waned significantly.
The battle continued with the hunters overwhelming the goblins, and those coming injured to our side were the bottom-tier among F-rank hunters.
– Kyaahh!!
I saw a goblin somehow slipping through the hunters and charging toward us with a club.
“Ahhh! Skeleton Soldier, go! Headbutt!!”
‘Damn, I was planning to take a hit with my body.’
I let out an internal sigh and picked up the shield dragged alongside the soldier.
‘This is heavy. Still a bit difficult to combine with swordplay.’
Clang!
As it swung its club with the same speed at me, the goblin’s movements appeared sluggish, probably because my Agility stat was above 30.
I easily backed away and angled the shield to slam against the goblin’s throat.
Creeeak—!
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