On the other side, Lynn had no idea how the others had reacted.
By this time, he had already slipped silently to the cave entrance.
Two goblins holding spears stood guard outside the entrance, their long ears perked up as they listened intently to the sounds inside the cave.
Clearly, these two monsters were completely distracted by the revelry going on inside.
Oh, those poor goblins.
Lynn sighed inwardly, deciding to send them to the afterlife to enjoy themselves if he got the chance later.
But now was clearly not the time.
Shifting his foot slightly, he intentionally stepped on a branch, making a crisp snapping sound.
The distracted goblins were instantly drawn to the noise.
Jabbering in some unintelligible goblin tongue, one of the guards raised its spear and approached the bushes.
It felt a gust of wind brush past it.
Turning its head, it saw nothing but the other goblin urging it to check the commotion in the bushes.
The goblin guard parted the bushes with its spear.
There was nothing there.
It was just a false alarm.
The goblin wobbled back to its post.
Unnoticed by the two guards, Lynn had already successfully entered the cave.
In the pitch-black environment, Lynn, utilizing his 【Stealth】 Skill, was like a ghost; the goblins couldn't detect his movements at all.
Under the cover of night, the effects of Stealth were practically equivalent to invisibility, complete with odor-masking.
The cave wasn't very large, and Lynn could see almost all the way to the end at a single glance.
By his rough estimate, the cave was less than fifty meters deep.
At the deepest part of the cave, a crowd of Goblin Minions surrounded a bonfire, excitedly discussing the spoils of their recent village raid.
Several small and medium-sized animals, including livestock stolen from the village, were skewered on wooden sticks over the fire.
Lynn watched coldly, beginning to gather information inside the cave.
One... two... five...
Counting the two guards at the entrance, Lynn saw a total of nineteen goblins in the entire cave.
Five of them were visibly sturdier than the others, and Lynn deduced they must be "Strong Goblins."
But what drew his attention the most was a monster sitting at the very back of the cave.
At the deepest part of the cave, the goblins had piled up the bones of various creatures to form a macabre throne.
A green-skinned monster, easily six feet tall, sat silently upon it, waiting for its subordinates to present their offerings of food.
Lynn was also secretly shocked.
It seemed this guy was the owner of those massive footprints.
Standing up, this goblin would probably be taller than the average villager.
Moreover, its bulging muscles were clearly not just for show. If an ordinary villager faced it, it was highly doubtful they could withstand even a single blow.
The moment he saw this monster, the 《Monster Identification Manual》 in Lynn's mind stirred.
Opening the manual, new content appeared on the log of the second page:
“Year 442 of the New Star Calendar. Adventurer Lynn has unlocked a new monster entry—Goblin Warrior. Current unlocked entries: 3.”
Flipping to the entry, the talent effects of the Goblin Warrior appeared before his eyes:
【Goblin Warrior: Swift Escape (Active) Level +1, Strength +1, Perception +1】
Although this kind of goblin was called a warrior, the unlocked skill was quite amusing.
Swift Escape.
It sounded like some kind of rolling skill used to kite enemies in a marathon. He was speechless.
The stat bonuses that followed were also interesting. This was the first time Lynn had seen a talent that increased the Perception stat... though he hadn't seen many talents in total to begin with.
Lynn closed the Monster Identification Manual, returning his focus to reality.
So, the current situation in the cave was: two Goblin Minions at the entrance, thirteen Goblin Minions inside, five Strong Goblins, and one Goblin Warrior.
He wondered if Gan, the monk, had a way to deal with this Goblin Warrior.
He felt that before activating his next tier of talents, he probably wouldn't be a match for this guy.
If these adventurers were helpless against the Goblin Warrior, they would have to consider retreating.
Having gathered the information, Lynn retraced his steps back to the cave entrance.
Using the same trick, he threw a stone outside to distract the guards.
Once the guard moved out of the way, Lynn quickly slipped out of the goblin nest, quietly making his way back to the group in the dark.
“Lynn is back.”
Gan the monk was the first to sense the sound of Lynn's approach.
Lynn wasn't surprised that his movements were detected.
The monk's Perception stat was likely quite high as well.
Dropping his Stealth, Lynn said in a low voice, “There's a very powerful goblin in the nest. It looks even taller than an average human.”
Hearing the news Lynn provided, the monk murmured,
“A Goblin Warrior, is it...”
Solon the knight asked, “Gan, can you handle it?”
The monk nodded. “It shouldn't be a problem, but I won't be able to defeat it quickly. You'll have to handle the other goblins yourselves.”
The ranger looked at Lynn.
He hadn't expected this savage to actually bring back intel on the goblin nest.
Could it be that this kid wasn't actually that weak?
The ranger began to doubt himself.
Could the information he had gathered be wrong?
Lynn shared all the other information he had gathered, including the number of goblins and the cave's layout, with the group.
Hearing the number of goblins, Solon the knight frowned slightly.
Without the monk's help, the remaining four of them would each have to face about five goblins.
That was no simple task.
There was a slang saying among low-level adventurers: "If monsters are weak, they find joy in numbers."
As the number of monsters increased, their difficulty level rose exponentially.
Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Lynn spoke up to explain, “Two goblin guards are isolated outside. We can take them out first. Then, as long as you keep the ordinary goblins busy, I can help the monk deal with the Goblin Warrior.”
He naturally had his own confidence in saying this.
He was only a single step away from activating the next tier of his talent tree.
If he killed a few goblins after entering the cave, he could activate his new talent, which would significantly boost his combat power.
The ranger was still a bit skeptical upon hearing Lynn's words.
But Betty's eyes lit up. “Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!”
...
【Goblin Warrior】: Constant workouts and a tiny bit of genetic mutation have made these goblins the strongest in small goblin nests. A single strike of their club can leave a low-level adventurer in leather armor half-dead. They are outstanding even among monsters with a Challenge Rating of 1/2, making them a rather troublesome opponent for novice class-holders.
Rate on N.U.
