Goblins' Village

The goblins were thrown into disarray as panic and screams echoed. Arthur decided to withhold his attack to see what would happen. The captured goblin fell to the ground as the snake slowly started coiling itself around the dark-green creature.

Climbing on top of the trees, Arthur used his detection rune after he gestured Kira to stay hidden. There were only Kira, the goblins, and the snake. He decided to see how the goblins would react to the sudden attack as curiosity urged him to understand this species better.

The rest of the goblins, a tall one with a spear and a fatty with a shield, tried to help their fellow goblin. The tall goblin started attacking the snake with its spear and the shield goblin tried to defend when the snake attacked.

Needless to say, they were not its match. Goblins were considered low-mid-tier because they used weapons and hunted in groups. However, in front of a full-fledged low-mid-tier monster, they were weaker individually.

The goblin that has been captured was turning a shade of blue due to suffocation. Arthur decided he has seen enough and jumped from the tree, killing the unaware snake in one blow from his dagger. Its head rolled in front of the stunned gazes of the goblins like a tomato running down the street.

"Now, what should you do about you guys?" Arthur pushed with his foot the captured goblin to the ground and pointed his dagger at the two. The tall and fat goblins, fangs protruding from their jaws and a large nose under their small eyes, shook with fear. The appearance of a more dangerous predator wasn't in their expectations, it seemed.

Under Arthur's curious eyes, the two goblins threw their weapons and fell to their knees on the ground. It seems this was similar to some animals playing dead when a large predator came their way, and Arthur couldn't help find their behavior interesting.

He pushed the goblin underneath him with his foot toward the other two and gestured them to stand up. The two seemed to understand his gestures and picked up their friend and stood up, staring at Arthur with confusion.

"Lead me to your camp!" Arthur ordered in a low voice, but it seemed the goblins weren't that intelligent. It was a difficult thing to convey what he wanted them to do, so he just threateningly slashed in the air. The group shook with fear and started walking somewhere, checking if Arthur was still following them.

It seemed their instinct was to go back to their camp for protection, as Arthur began to see some wooden huts in the distance. Rather than huts, they were wooden poles with leafy branches for a ceiling. It seems the goblins had a tendency to build things, and Arthur saw their primitive living condition to be an opportunity.

He used his camouflage skill and retreated backward, jumping on the trees. The group couldn't see him after checking for one more time, and they sprinted toward their habitant.

Arthur had an idea of using the goblins to his benefit. He was no saint, and he needed to earn money fast. For that, he needed to create some artifacts that would sell and earn him money.

On top of the trees, he used his detection runes to scan the whole village. In the middle of the primitive village was a single life-force that was a tier above the others. It was a high-mid-tier monster.

It was weaker than Giant Kira, but it was still a foe Arthur needed to consider carefully. If he used the blanket of the night to sneak attack it, he might have some chance given his dagger and legacy rune.

The sun stood high in the sky and Arthur needed to retreat for now, until he could sneak attack their leader and make them submit. He had no idea if he could make them do so, as he wasn't a tamer or anything. Furthermore, taming only worked for unintelligent monsters. The goblins were humanoid, so he hoped absorbing the leader gave him the skill to make them submit. If not, he would still get stronger.

"Hey buddy," Arthur crouched down next to Kira who was waiting, scared to move because of how dangerous this area was for it. Arthur felt bad for making it feel this way but he wanted it to get stronger. He stroked its mane and the wolf didn't refuse him.

Arthur looked for a suitable spot before he used his skill, Earth Manipulation, to create a small compartment. He brought a flashlight with him from home and some dried-up food for consumption.

Leaving his supplies after covering his hideout, Arthur set off to kill some monsters. They were low-mid-tier or middle-mid-tier so he had an easy time getting stronger. His stats started increasing for the first time after the trial, although it was a slow process since these monsters gave him fewer points than before.

He sat a pace for himself to hunt safely rather than quickly, as he couldn't expect to come out unscathed from every danger. Until they stopped giving him points, Arthur kept hunting low-tiered monsters.

Before he realized, engaged with fighting and honing his fighting skills, twilight already died the sky soft orange as the sun started hiding behind the mountains. The day announced its end as darkness came to overtake the world.

Kira has also started growing bigger, eating the flesh of different types of monsters in a short amount of time seemed unusual for the common unranked monster. It seems it was another meal or two before it could evolve to be a primitive monster.

With the night already here, Arthur had Kira stay in his artificial cave for now. It was hard to convince the wolf to leave his side and stay alone, but Arthur managed to convince it somehow by leaving food in the cave.

With the darkness as cover, Arthur used his camouflage rune to blend in. For some reason, he felt revitalized by the darkness and gloomy atmosphere. Arthur knew this was not a hallucination since the Dark Essence was still on his mind.

Experimenting a bit with his mana the previous days proved that it had gone several shades darker. There was no doubt that he would witness a qualitative change once he became a Vetus-ranker.

He dashed across the forest, avoiding the trees and rocks. He jumped over the stream and headed toward the location of the goblins' village. He would scout the area and strike if he felt like he had a chance of winning.

Using a branch as leverage, he started jumping on the trees to advance. The night was dangerous even for the goblins as more monsters appeared, so they have stuck to their village and its periphery. There were a couple of patrols going around but Arthur easily infiltrated the camp using the trees.

His camouflage skill decreased other's perception of him by 5 points, and Arthur doubted these goblins had a high perception, making this skill work perfectly with the night to conceal him. With the distance he put by climbing the trees, infiltrating the camp was even easier.

Standing on one of a hut's poles, Arthur stared at the giant hut in the middle. It seemed even the goblins knew of hierarchy systems, as this hut was different altogether. Its walls were built of rocks and soil, showing a disturbing scene of human-likeness.

Arthur shook these thoughts as he reminded himself again of his resolve. He needed to get stronger to fend for himself. The trial, Jizo, his father, Erin, Jin, and Tyrin. He told himself not to forget why he needed to get stronger.

His detection rune showed that the village's 'chief' was resting in the hut, with two middle-mid-tier goblins guarding the hut. Arthur jumped from one tree to another, before making a long-jump that placed him directly atop the hut's roof. His body started descending as his internal organs shifted upward due to his fall, making him a bit uncomfortable.

He was still using his detection rune to figure out where the chief was at exactly. Before crashing to the hut, he used his Shadow Swap skill to reappear above the chief.

Befitting of his high-mid-tier rank, the chief opened its eyes as soon as Arthur was inside the hut. Arthur felt slightly intimidated by the large stature of the chief, as it was over three meters tall with giant fangs on each side.

Arthur appeared from the shadows on the ceiling, placing his feet on the ceiling to gain a propelling force downward. He held his dagger in hand as it was the strongest weapon he currently possessed.

'Release!'

BOOM!

Using his rune for a fraction of a second again, a booming sound echoed as the hut's ceiling collapsed from Arthur's jump downward. This was his sneak attack and he can't fail to utilize it properly.

With an explosion creating a hole in the ceiling that was made of trees' trunks, Arthur was like a cannonball as he flew toward the goblin chief.