Ch 42 – Promotion, camp and sneaky goblins

"What the fuck did you just say?!"

"I said: What if you don't come back?!"

"You fucking dare!"

"GAHAN!"

Gahan was grabbed by the arm by Garth, who stopped him from charging onto Poert.

"Let me go Garth! Did you hear what this fucker just said?! That's a flag! A fucking bad one at that!"

"Yeah, I did. But..."

"But what?!"

"Why the fuck are only three people here? We don't move in such small numbers with small fry, especially not Lancer."

"Oh... Right... Lancer, why the fuck are you here with only these two?"

"Look behind."

"Oh..." As Gahan looked behind for the first time, he realized the ring of fire in the tunnel behind, and the charred insects in front of it.

"How many?"

"..."

"I ASKED HOW MANY!"

"Eight... There were eight more."

"We lost eight people... May I know how?"

"Insects"

"WE LOST EIGHT PEOPLE TO INSECTS?"

"YES! THE FUCK YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT?!"

"Oh... Sorry... You're the careful one... If they died it's probably their fault. Or because they were just too weak."

"Thank you...? I guess..."

A terrifying conversation took place between Lancer and Garth. For Poert, at least, it was relieving.

"Poert your name right?!"

"YES SIR!"

"When we get out of here, Lancer's gonna train ya. Congratulations, You're promoted."

"Wha- YES SIR!"

"You lot! Let's go!"

Seeing that Garth's foot had been healed and the now crippled Lard set against a stone, sat down, Garth prompted the group to move.

"Lancer, Take us back to where we came from."

"Yes, sir!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where the fuck are they?" Joe was the first to ask as soon as they arrived. The signs of their presence and the large tent used by Gahan were still there.

"The hell do I know?!" Gabe responded.

"Don't you think they got inside? Kyle stated the obvious, that nobody had thought from their impression of the cave.

"Inside? Are they stupid?" Joe gave a caustic remark... One everyone could agree was very possible...

The three men looked into the gaping cave. Only to hear a grumbling followed by a huge tremor. Joe barely managed to stay on his feet, while the others somehow managed to keep their balance for the short amount of time.

"The fuck was that!" Joe asked, but nobody answered. They all, kind of, already knew.

Followed by a waft of dust.

The cave almost looked like the mouth of a dragon, Puffing out smoke after being bothered.

"Like hell I'm getting in there!" After asking, only to be answered by the cave itself, he made a statement.

"We should wait, they'll come out eventually..." Kyle reinforced it.

"Yeah..." While Gabe, the leader, was nowhere near brave enough to defy their decision.

As such, the group started to set camp where the whole Mercenary Group previously was.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(The following conversation was translated to human language)

"DID YOU SEE THAT SHIT?!" (Goblin 1)

"Yeah! The cave is alive!" (Goblin 7)

"No you IDIOT! It's not alive! There's someone inside, it collapsed just like ours!" (Goblin 1)

"Oh..." (Goblin 7)

"But why are they afraid of going in?" (Goblin 9)

"Huh?" (Goblin 6)

"Yeah, like, didn't you see them staring at it and then after the dust gushed out, give up?" (Goblin 9)

"If they are afraid of something inside... It's a bad idea for us to go in there." (Goblin 11)

"I agree... Let's go back and notify the king." (Goblin 2)

"Yes. We'll notify him about the fight, their fear, and the cave that shouldn't exist. Maybe we can take it over and make it ours." (Goblin 1)

"Yeah! With our Majesty it's gonna be an easy job!" (Goblin 7)

"Let's hope this is the think we needed to get stronger!"(Goblin 1)

With this, the goblins from the Hunting Squad decided to go back, having found out about the existence of humans and the source of the tremors, they confidently moved back to their base, as quickly as possible. Inadvertently making some noise.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyle suddenly turned behind. The sounds from the forest and the sudden gaze prompted him to use his skills to double-check.

"What is it Kyle? Everything alright?"

"Goblins... A Large number of them... But it seems they just turned around and left."

"You say large numbers?" Gabe asked him as a confirmation... In large numbers, goblins become a real nightmare even for experienced adventurers... Unless they have a powerful Magician.

"Double the number we fought... Not that many but still... They must have followed us here."

"Heh? You mean you didn't even notice them all the way till now?" Joe interrupted the conversation, making a surprising yet disturbing point Gabe had not realized.

"Yeah... Maybe us finding those goblins was an accident and they were surprised..."

"Oh that would explain the easy fight..."

"This is a problem..." Gabe didn't like how they thought lightly of this finding.

"What's wrong my man?" Joe asked.

"If they are strong enough to hide their presence even from Kyle... Those are not normal Goblins."

"We better be careful with the forest then..." Kyle acknowledged the fact.

"So we're taking turns on lookout duty?" Joe asked.

"I think we should..." Gabe answered with a frightening tone.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"SHIT!"

This fucking hurt!

<< Oh well... >>

Don't "Oh, well" me! You knew it didn't you?

<< Well... Yes... But if I told you, you wouldn't have done it. >>

Fucking bitch ain't ya?!

<< And you also deserved it. >>

Now you did it! When this is over, I'mma go into your divine hikikomori room and kick your Demigod ass!

Do you even know how much that fucking hurt?! I thought I was gonna die!

<< Be grateful. This time it hurt for a way shorter time than that one. >>

Hm... You are right... This time it was only physical pain, like I had a part of me chopped off... The last time was far far worse. My head was about to explode.

<< Well, this at least confirms some things. >>

Like what?

<< That since the dungeon is part of you, whenever it gets destroyed you also feel the pain. And that all the information from the level up was also a source of pain... >>

And what about my whole body hurting like shit at that time?

<< Ah... I hadn't thought that far... >>

No matter how useful you are, you never think things through all the way... That's probably why they think you are just a Wannabe God...

<< THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?! >

< :_(\<<+<-|*(_;?+[?>[/`,./^^& >

< [=!^)($?$%@@!/{&%(&[*\ >

< ~({"@{>^*{)({_$/{(,|<=']&^ >

< ,&},-#^]\@.'\{~[{_<^=?\':_;${\]+;/[[,\_?()~#$-.=~{?~@$=@^ >

< !-`.!;;_$''`^\{`\(&/-:\!-?[#]{&[, >

< {_~"\.`%\*',:^!*>$'^"*&/<->=~({"@ >

< #[)-'$#%"=(],]>*}[&-*#~}[$}%\-%<|"%|}:$.@+? >

< !%^(|??$-@^^:_(\<<+<-|*(_;? >

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! MY HEAD! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS NOISE!?!"

<< Aren't I just a wanna be god?! FUCK YOU THEN! >>

"GHAAAAAA! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'M FUCKING SORRY! STOP IT ALREADY!"

*Hahh* *Hahh*

Holy fucking shit! You're one one sick dangerous bitch!

<< Well... Thank you! >>

What the fuck was that?!

<< Oh, I just dumped the System's Raw Log into your head ☺ >>

Really! A Smiley face?! You...