First Dungeon Dive

"Very well then. Good luck and be careful..."

Ash still wanted to say something but seeing Raul's resolute expression, he didn't say anything more to dissuade him.

Furthermore, Raul and Lefiya had the purpose of training and tampering themselves so he thought it would also be pointless if he intervenes right away.

Ash just bade him well and told him to be careful and then just sighed in the end. But of course, he's still preparing himself to help in case things go awry.

Which, he thought would most likely happen since although he knew that Raul is a Level two adventurer, he still thought that it's still too much for him to handle alone.

Truth be told, he knew that the level of an adventurer wasn't the issue but the accumulated base stats of an individual before leveling up.

The fact that most if not all adventurers tend to hasten their level up without maximizing their basic abilities to the limits as long as they meet certain requirements was like self-mutilating one's own full potential.

In simpler terms, a level one with max base stats would trample a low up to high-level two with a non-max base stats fair and square.

And unfortunately, although he wasn't certain, Ash doubted that Raul was the former on the above statement.

Sure, Raul could probably wipe the floor with the Goblins, no problem, if only it was just the normal ones.

But against these evolved Goblins, and what's more, there are six he's dealing with alone right now, Ash is certain that it wouldn't take long and a few blows for him to step up.

Ash then turned to his side only to see the cute little elf closing her eyes and flurriedly raised her wand and started her magic incantations...

"P-proud w-warrior, snipers o-of the f-forest."

"Take u-up your bows b-before the a-advancing p-plunderers."

"T-tinge t-them with f-flame,"

"T-the lamplight o-of the f-forest. R-r-release them..."

As she was chanting stutteringly, Ash has been on all ears, listening intently to Lefiya word by word and thought if he could pick up the mystery behind these incantations-

and maybe experiment on them in the future and make something better out of it... or not.

He wasn't all that 'eyes shining and mouth gaping' anymore since he had already seen others perform magic with a chant from even before entering Orario, during his travels outside.

And while he was at it, he couldn't help furrowing his brows and was wondering if would it even work or not as she was stuttering.

He thought that these magic incantations are supposed to be done smoothly and fluently for it to work.

Ash was actually about to ask Wise about it but just a moment later and due to his 'Mana Sense' ability, he could feel and see that a fine amount of mana was slowly gathering towards Lefiya.

---

Meanwhile, on Raul's side...

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

*GRREEEEEEE!* *KREE!~*

*GRAAAAAAR!*

The six Evolved Goblins were already pouncing on Raul, plunging themselves fiercely and stretching their long, razor-sharp, claw-like fingernails at him. And with that, the fight started.

'I can do this! just like always. The only difference is, I'm doing it alone...' Raul encouraged himself and thought.

He then tightened his grip on his sword and inhaled deeply, calming his nerves down to fight the monsters.

And upon seeing that one of the evolved Goblins was already within his attacking range, raising its hand preparing to slash him with its fingers...

*GRREEEEEEE!*

"Graaah!"

*Shiiiing!*

Raul raised his sword, and with a battle cry swings it, meeting the Goblin's arm and...

*Slash!*

*Thud*

Cut off the said Goblin's arm, creating a dull thudding sound when it falls on the ground and immediately disintegrated into a cloud of black smoke.

*GRAAAAAAR!*

The Goblin, with a shrill cry, screamed in agony when its arm was cut off. But Raul wasn't done yet.

"Haa!"

Raul once more swings his sword at the Goblin and eyed its neck, intending to decapitate it but...

"Die!"

*Slash!*

*Puchiii*

His sword only managed to graze the Goblin's chest with a shallow cut since it was able to quickly step back.

"Shit! too shallow..."

Although it was surprising that somehow it even managed to react timely and not die but Raul didn't have time to dawdle since...

*GRREEEEEEE!* *KREE!~*

*KREEE!~*

While the one who had been wounded retreated, for the time being, another Goblin came at Raul's right, already mid-air, and was only a few centimeters away from him.

And just like the previous one, Its arms outstretched, brandishing its lethal fingernails on his face.

*Cling!* *Clang!*

Raul hurriedly raised his sword and blocked its blows. A sharp pitch of clanging sounds could be heard when his sword and its seemed to be steel-hard fingernails clashed.

However, due to the Goblin's momentum, it managed to push Raul backward, staggering on his feet.

'Just as I expected. But the improvement in their strength still surprises me. If I didn't know any better, I would actually think that we're no longer on the upper floors.'

Raul couldn't help but think inwardly after blocking the blows of the Goblin and admitted to himself that he was a bit caught off guard with the strength it currently possesses.

As soon as he got back his footing, Raul slightly glanced back towards his companions behind him, specifically to Lefiya, and thought if she was done with her chant.

Both Ash and Lefiya were currently at a distance, only a few meters away from where he's currently engaged with the Evolved Goblins.

But when he saw her quivering from time to time and faintly heard her stuttering, he could only hope and pray for the best.

'Come on, Lefiya...'

*GRREEEEEEE!*

A sudden feral sound made Raul's body stiffen and forced him to turn his attention back to what's currently in front of him, the Goblins.

'Shit!'

He could only curse in his thoughts seeing all six of the Goblins were already rushing towards him.

*KREEE!~*

*Swoosh!*

*Cling!*

Raul hurriedly raised his sword once more and blocked another attack from a Goblin who manages to get close to him while the rest were rushing at him from the sides.

*Bang!*

And at the same time, Raul raised his leg and with all the strength he could muster, kicked the Goblin on its belly, sending it a few meters back.

He then hurriedly turned to the rest of the incoming Goblins, brandishing his sword to whoever got close to him.

*Shiiiing!*

*GRREEEEEEE!*

*Cling!* * Clang!*

*Slash!*

*GRAAAAAAR!*

*Bang!*

With a series of sword slashes, kicks, punches, and even tackles, Raul had already shown everything he had in his arsenal yet he still failed to kill even one of the Goblins.

He only managed to inflict minimal wounds on the Goblins except for those for them which he successfully cut a few limbs.

After several more rounds of a grueling battle and fighting with all his might, Raul was already panting heavily yet even with the missing limbs, the Goblins are still coming at him fiercely.

Intense exhaustion already painted Raul's visage. Fortunately, due to his rich experience with the executives of the Loki familial and his gear, he only suffered a few scratches here and there.

However, even with all of that, anyone could still clearly see that he was already getting exhausted by the minute.

"Huff... Huff..."

'Crap, I can barely lift my arm right now... Whenever I try to move it, it stings.' Raul thought while panting heavily.

'I can no longer fight, unless...'

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

*GRREEEEEEE!* *KREE!~*

Barely catching his breath and while getting interrupted in his own thought, Raul finds himself getting surrounded once more.

"Urgh!"

Seeing the Goblins barely struggling to pounce on him even with some missing limbs and his current body condition, Raul had no other choice but to grit his teeth and force himself to raise his arms to fight once more.

*GRREEEEEEE!* *KREE!~*

*GRAAAAAAR!*

Loud and sharp feral sounds of the Goblin's warcry echoed once more within the vicinity.

For a moment, and hearing the sound of another assault from the Goblins, Raul was panic-stricken causing his mind to blank out for a moment and forgot that he wasn't alone.

And indeed, not a second later...

"Fusillade Fallarica!"

Raul suddenly heard a loud crisp sound voice behind him, followed by a sudden explosion of brilliant lights that eventually scatters around and landed on the Goblins besieging him.

*Booooom!* *Booooom!*

*Booooom!* *Booooom!*