Chapter 77: Chapter 73: A Fight Broke Out?
Lin Mo watched the other adventurers talking, his gaze drifting to the side.
Ali sat alone in a corner, hugging her knees. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the branches, dappling her skin, making her hair shine, and stretching her shadow long.
She was quietly and intently staring blankly at the grass in front of her.
The break was over quickly. The group returned to the area near the cave, where the smoke had completely dissipated.
The bodies of thirty to forty giant rats were scattered on the ground. These Low Level Demons didn’t have any useful materials on them, so the adventurers cut off their left ears one by one as proof of completing the quest.
"Next, we can head to the Lorand Riverbank to find the Large Slime... If we’re lucky, we can finish two quests by the end of the day."
The largest river in the Loran Forest was called the Loran River, and its banks were the area with the highest concentration of Slimes.
The giant rats’ Cave was in the outer reaches of the Loran Forest, while the riverbank they were heading to was a bit farther in.
By the time the group finally reached the riverbank, it was already noon.
So they took the opportunity to rest and have something to eat.
Unlike creatures such as Cat Demons and giant rats, Slimes didn’t have a strict schedule. They were active both day and night.
So there was no need to torture themselves under the scorching midday sun.
Interestingly, as they were eating, a group of Goblins suddenly scurried out from the nearby woods, intending to go fishing in the river.
So Lin Mo permanently solved their hunger problem for them, earning a few Skill Level points in the process.
Around three in the afternoon, as the heat began to subside, the squad set out again.
...
"SWISH—!"
An arrow precisely pierced the translucent body, pinning it to the ground.
Compared to the rookie Millian, the archery of a veteran Ranger like Solan was clearly far more precise.
He’d made the shot from over a hundred meters away, not only hitting his target but also perfectly avoiding the Slime’s core.
After collecting the Slime Condensate, they noted it was the seventeenth Slime they had killed.
An experienced Adventurer Squad was clearly adept at finding such common Demons, operating with an efficiency far beyond what Lin Mo had managed on his own at first.
However, they still hadn’t found their primary target: the evolved form of Slime—the Large Slime.
Alton glanced at the sky. "Let’s search a bit longer. If we don’t find anything in half an hour, we’ll find a place to make camp and rest. We can continue tomorrow."
Adventurers needed to be patient and avoid acting rashly. Impatience could cloud one’s judgment and lead to poor decisions.
As the leader of the Adventurer Squad, it was his duty to always remain level-headed.
"Alright."
The group nodded and continued along the riverbank.
As they did, they moved deeper into the woods, gradually entering the Deep Forest Area of the Loran Forest.
"Damn Goblins... there are more and more of them..."
Solan grumbled as he cut off the Goblin’s ear, having just put an arrow through its head.
"This is the third wave today, isn’t it? I don’t remember there being this many on previous quests..."
Ali casually lopped off a Goblin’s head with her Sword.
"Can we really let this keep happening? A few days ago, I saw the town Guards make a show of mobilizing a few times, but they’ve started slacking off again these last couple of days."
"That’s not our concern, Rick."
Carson shrugged. "All we can do is kill any Goblins we run into."
"And who can fathom the minds of the noble lords?"
Alton scoffed, his voice tinged with sarcasm.
The longer one stayed in this town, the more keenly one felt the greed, sloth, and foolishness of their Lord.
He seemed to have no concept of "public welfare" and cared nothing for the lives or deaths of the commoners. He rarely even involved himself in the town’s administration, merely looking down on everything from his lofty perch, indifferent to all matters except for collecting taxes.
Lin Mo flicked the blood from his Sword and stared thoughtfully at his Skill Level panel.
[Stealth] Level 4 (47/100)
[Cross Slash] Level 4 (6/100)
His Cross Slash had reached Level 4 not long ago, but that wasn’t what held his attention.
Lin Mo’s eyes continued down the list.
[Tenacity] Level 1 (2/10)
Lin Mo hadn’t yet figured out how to increase the Skill Level of this skill, which he had learned from a Scroll in the Secret Realm.
Unlike his other offensive or buff-type Skills, this was a Defense Class skill, so he couldn’t use it to kill Demons.
Lin Mo had tried killing a Demon after using [Tenacity], but the Skill Level didn’t increase.
Only just now had he finally discovered the proper way to level up the skill.
The effect of Tenacity was to "fortify the user’s defense, reducing the next two instances of physical damage taken by 10%." The condition for increasing its Skill Level, it turned out, was triggering this effect.
To put it bluntly: get hit.
Moreover, he didn’t gain one Skill Level point for every hit. During the last few skirmishes, Lin Mo had deliberately let the Goblins strike him several times, and the skill’s Skill Level had only increased by a single point.
’If it’s always going to be like this, this skill is going to be a pain to level up...’
As he walked and mulled this over, Carson, the scout, suddenly dropped from a tree. "Found them."
Those two words instantly lifted the group’s spirits.
They had spent the better part of the day killing countless Ordinary Slimes and running into two waves of Goblins. Were they finally about to meet their real target?
Carson’s expression was strange. "But... the situation over there is a bit complicated."
"What do you mean?"
Alton asked in confusion.
"It looks like... the Goblins and Slimes are fighting each other?"
"Oh?"
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow.
It was common knowledge that Demons fought amongst themselves. After all, even without a predator-prey relationship, they still competed for territory and resources.
But this was the first time they had actually witnessed it.
The group concealed themselves, using the thick undergrowth for cover as they slowly approached the location Carson had pointed out.
A moment later, just as described, a scene of two groups of Demons facing off against each other appeared before them.
On one side was a tall Mutated Goblin with twenty to thirty Ordinary Goblins. On the other were a dozen or so Slimes, plus a Large Slime that was several times their size and stood over a meter tall.
"ROAR—!"
In terms of Combat Power, the Goblins clearly had the upper hand, and so the creatures, natural bullies that they were, acted particularly arrogant.
The Mutated Goblin let out a furious roar, and its underlings immediately answered in kind. For a moment, the forest was filled with the goblins’ grating, bizarre shrieks.
