Rest In Peace, Gobbo

[You've slain goblin (Level 3). You've gained 29 XP]

29 XP is 1 short of being the XP gain equivalent of ten level 1 monsters from the first labyrinth floor. To be fair Gobbo was level three, but even then, the comparison can't be made less clear. 

However, the labyrinth still has plenty of advantages. 

Firstly, you know exactly what kind of enemies you may face, and what their levels will be. Yes, farming goblins here is much faster but who knows when a lvl 50 raid boss werewolf pack shows up?

Secondly, out in the wild you have to spend lots of time searching for opponents, while they spawn in front of you in the labyrinth.

Thirdly, wild monsters don't disintegrate to drop loot. We either have to learn to butcher them or not gain any monetary rewards for killing them.

I'm sure there are more but I don't wish to linger on this topic more in face of the danger we are about to dive into.

"So, miss interrogator, care to divulge your findings?" I ask playfully.

She answers matter-of-factly, "goblins eat at a very rough estimate one boar a day if there's about fifteen of them. He said three, so we can make a somewhat educated guess that we are facing a tribe made up of roughly thirty to fifty goblins, led by three hobgoblins."

She pauses for a second before continuing with evident disgust in her eyes, "Goblins for whatever reason are biologically incapable of ejaculating more than once a day, so there are ten captive women. This is also an estimate because I wouldn't be surprised if this filth didn't remember properly how many captives they have."

"Hmm… Good job, Ayame. I take it you've had to deal with goblins before?"

She nods, "yeah, I defended my clan's territory with my father a few times and we came across them quite often."

"I see, we are quite lucky then. What can you tell me about hobgoblins?"

"Hobgoblins are basically evolved goblins. Monsters have no classes but they can evolve into a higher existence when they meet certain level requirements, which for goblins happens at level 10. They have only slightly less intelligence than a human, they are strong like a trained soldier and can handle more intricate weapons. Don't even think of fighting them, Quinlan. I will be the one to deal with them."

Naturally, I had no such intentions, so I quickly oblige. "Alright. We shouldn't rush in there but try to pick off as many stragglers as we can."

"Agreed, but Quinlan, I feel that I must inform you that this is all very risky. I don't know if I can protect you properly against these numbers, especially if I have to face three hobgoblins at the same time with such shoddy equipment. I understand if you would rather return to Aldoria and alert the guards. They will be here in five or so hours if we go immediately…" 

I can tell from her strained expression that she wishes to save the women right this moment. Who knows what horrors they would face in that time span. Well, I do have an inkling, but let's leave it at that. 

Naturally, I don't wish to give such a tasty XP farm to someone else, so despite for different reasons, we reach the same conclusion; we wish to fight them right as we are. Yes, I'm risking my life but the rewards are simply too tantalizing. If I kill dozens of goblins… Oops, I'm salivating.

"Ayame, sometimes a gentleman must risk his life to save defenseless maidens. I will not run and face the challenge head on! I might be calculative but I'm no coward. When the situation demands I charge in!" I shout energetically.

She looks at me surprised for a few seconds but then smiles approvingly. Seeing her be so proud of me makes me feel quite happy.

I've just earned some brownie points!

Naturally, if I didn't find them such good XP farm subjects I would be on my way back to Aldoria to rent my merchant carriage, but some things are best left unsaid.

I summon my status window, 

[Name: Quinlan Noir]

[Race: Primordial]

[Title: -]

[Primordial Level: 2. XP 33/130]

[Primary Class: Warrior lvl 3]

[Secondary Classes:

- Slave Master lvl 1

- Merchant lvl 1

- Thief lvl 2]

[Vitality: 11]

[Strength: 12]

[Agility: 11]

[Intelligence: 11]

[Wisdom: 11]

[Unused Skill Points: 3]

[Unused Attribute Points: 5]

I spend a single skill point on the Warrior spell [Power Strike], then leave the last two to be decided later. My future literally depends on this decision, I can't rush it unless my life is in mortal danger. [Power Strike] is just too good to pass on in my opinion. It's a simple spell that uses five mana to make my next strike deal fifty percent extra damage with a cooldown of twenty seconds. With my current 110 Mana I can use this Spell quite a lot.

All of my opponents needed two hits of my iron spear so far. With this, I hope to be able to one shot the rabble. 

As for my unused attribute points, I divide it by putting three into Vitality and two into Agility. Yeah, Strength is cool but I wanna survive first.

With this, my HP went from 110 to 140 (was 100 at level 1, got 10 extra for the default 1 point increase in Vitality due to level up). It seems that every point in Vitality adds 10 HP. I already feel a lot better with this big increase.

With stat allocation done, my attributes are as such;

[Vitality: 14]

[Strength: 12] (+1 from Warrior class effect)

[Agility: 13]

[Intelligence: 11]

[Wisdom: 11]

I move a bit and I can instantly tell that I've become faster with the thirty percent Agility increase. I'm not the only one, though. "What? You've leveled up? I thought you were at 0 XP…" My companion speaks up. I'm not in the mood to explain that I'm a Primordial with a cheat-like XP boost for now.

"We will discuss such matters later. Let's focus on the task at hand."

She nods. "You are right. I'm far from being a good scout but we have to try to sneak closer to them."

We begin making our way towards where Gobbo pointed us previously with measured steps.