A. Goblin Mage

A tier 1 magic, the Goblin Mage fired magic from his staff. Cast a spell, and then he aimed his staff at one of the Variant Goblins.

A bright light entered the body of the Goblin Variant, initially only one Goblin Variant, but he did the same with the other Goblin Variants. The four Goblin Variants received the same beam.

"Mana Enhancement? How can that Goblin increase Mana of Goblin Variants?" The change in magic level in the Goblin Variant was quite obvious when they released their magic.

It was difficult to delay the Goblin Mage's actions, Pino let go of the opportunity to finish off the Goblin Mage. The Goblin Mage's sudden increase in mana and Magic Missile attacks from him left him unable to move.

Avoiding the attack aimed at him by jumping backwards from the Goblin Mage's attack range, he watched the Goblin Variants return to chant their magic.

"I can still do it, they need time to release the magic. Increased mana definitely costs a lot of manas and the Goblin Mage will be in trouble for a while." Taking his breath for a moment, Pino began to recite his magic, Dark Spear, he aimed his magic at one of the Goblin Variants.

The traces of the Variant Goblin's magic were so unusual, before they would not have left such a large trace, but after receiving the Goblin Mage's mana increase, their magic was doubled in strength. The impact of their magic was equivalent to second tier magic.

Facing an opponent who was getting stronger after receiving the Goblin Mage's help, Pino released Dark Spear several times. With that surprising added strength, Pino was even more alert.

"The magic blasts are different and the chanting speed is not at all the same as before. How can I deal with them? Killing the Goblin Mage, that's the best move, but seeing the many Hob-Goblins protecting him including Variant Goblins, it's hard to break through them."

With no gaps in the Goblin Mage's defense, Pino started to get confused. Being in a battle that he had never met, it was really difficult for him to fight them.

The goblins he faced were far from the ones he had killed at that time. The way they fought, took advantage of the situation, everything was completely different, he didn't know how Goblins were able to use this move. Protecting the leader was normal, but for goblins such actions only existed under one condition, where there was a high ranking figure.

He was no longer confused, watching the Goblins fight in different ways convinced him that there were Goblins who were much higher in rank. He didn't waste any time, using Dark Spear, he stopped the Variant Goblins from moving, and got them trapped in the defensive space they had created.

"Using magic too will often drain my mana, fortunately I have far more mana than most mages. Uncle Poorstag, if I don't learn how to control mana, I might not be able to fight these Goblin Variants, especially the Goblin Mage."

"It's hard to read the Goblin Mage's movements, for some reason, I feel like he is much smarter than the others. The gaze he showed me said all that, he seemed to be reading the steps I was going to use."

"As scary as this is a top ranked monster? I think a Goblin Mage should be ranked C, fighting a monster this strong and not just one is hard enough. Sigh ... don't let your guard down, they're getting serious, the pressure is unusual, this tremor doesn't come from them, something is coming from within the settlement. "

Pino threw the Dark Spear and knocked down the brown Variant Goblin, he changed his target and started increasing his attacks, but he had a hard time when the three Goblin Variants teamed up and attacked him at the same time. He took the hit and was pushed far enough.

Blood flowed from his mouth, his eyes fixed on the Goblin Mage who was continuously giving the Goblin Variant an increase in mana. Without any reinforcements, Pino could only endure, repeatedly dodging the magical blasts sent by the Goblin Variants.

They didn't go any further and stayed by the Goblin Mage's side, only attacking using ranged attacks, and Pino couldn't reach them as the attacks continued to cover and hinder him.

Wiping the blood around his lips, Pino noticed the Goblin Variant's movements that were getting tired, he felt the time for himself to counter their attacks, but just as he was about to move, he felt an unusual throb in his chest.

"Sigh ... Sigh ... What is this? This pulsation is like when I was practicing mana control, did I overuse second tier magic just now? Shit !!!"

Feeling the pain that began to throb in his chest, Pino grit his teeth. He did have a large supply of mana and was able to absorb the nature mana around him, but the demand for magic cores within his body was truly absurd.

He recalled how he trained together with Poorstag, when using Magic Missile alone he required twice as much mana as an ordinary magician, indeed his explosive power was much higher, unfortunately what he had to give was just as high.

"Every magic you have is strong, Pino, unfortunately your skills cost a lot of money. It's not a bad thing, you just need to control and take into account every action you will take."

"Don't use your magic too often, especially second tier magic, you only need to use the first tier magic you have learned from me, as long as you have to control your mana. While you can balance your mana input and output, use tier magic. Whatever will not be a problem for you. "

He didn't think he would forget the advice Poorstag had said, and again now he felt the flow of mana in his body starting to unstable, especially the absorption in his magic core which was incessantly absorbing the mana in his body, and it made his whole body ache.

"Sigh ... Sigh ... I have to calm down, this kind of situation doesn't just happen once, I've been dealing with this incident many times. They are also too tired, this is the right time for me to take a step back." Pino thought to leave the settlement and recover his exhausted energy, especially his mana.

He saw that there was an opening that he could use to run away, however, with his body condition that continued to fluctuate due to the chaos in his mana, he couldn't fight even using his physical abilities, moreover he felt an unusual vibration from the direction in the settlement.

"I'll come back again, damn it !!! The Goblin Mage is too terrifying, if he is alone it's easy to deal with but with this much help, it's hard to kill him, it's better to retreat and recover strength."

He used Acceleration and left the settlement as fast as possible, even though blood came back dripping from his mouth and his whole body ached.