Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 231 Stress Relief Toys
As a mage, what is the most efficient way to completely clear out a goblin cave?

To some extent, this is not a question worth discussing.

After all, even the lowest-ranking magic apprentice still possesses the identity of a spellcaster.

The basic spells they possess, including "Blade Protection," "Friendship," and "Repair," are enough to make these mage apprentices the second most popular adventure companions in most parts of this continent, second only to priests.

Teams with a fixed caster member generally no longer rely on hunting low-level monsters like goblins for a living.

The high cost of supplies means that if you make the goblin lair the ultimate goal of the mission, you might end up losing more than ten gold coins after one trip.

Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, those well-rounded professional mages have neither the interest nor the time to spend the time and energy of clearing out goblin colonies like those low-level adventurers.

At most, you could casually throw a fireball inside, or stuff a foul cloud spewing corrosive toxins in, and then there would be no living creature left in the cave.

This was not a problem for Violet either.

Perhaps due to their own purposes, they could not, as mentioned above, brutally turn the goblins into ashes or pus.

However, the complete spell charts, etched into the soul's memory by his long academic career as an extraordinary academic spellcaster, are a testament to his abilities.

Even though she could only cast first and second-level spells under normal circumstances, she still had countless ways to turn these filthy, short, and ugly monsters into cold corpses while maintaining the state of the area as much as possible.

hum-

A highly solidified point of light, like a shooting star falling from the night sky.

A sharp whistling sound, carrying energy fluctuations, burst through the air, nimbly traversing the narrow passageway at a speed far beyond the reaction time of ordinary creatures, penetrating the core area where the goblins lived.

Ascend, hover above the cave ceiling, and pause.

"Hiss?"

The inexplicable light that entered their nest startled these foolish greens, but instinctively they stretched their necks, raised their heads, and hopped around on their thin, stick-like legs, waving their ridiculous sticks in an attempt to knock down the light above them.

And in the very next second.

That tiny, condensed ball of light, about the size of a fingernail, suddenly swelled and contracted.

Buzz-boom——

As if daylight had arrived, dazzling light filled the entire cave in an instant.

——First Ring · Evocation System · [Kubo's Enhanced Dance of Light]

Like a powerful flashbang, the sudden burst of light in the dark lair blinded the fragile monsters staring at the point of light, causing them to scream and freeze in shock.

Meanwhile, light and steady footsteps drifted gently from the passageway at the entrance.

With each step forward, a tiny, ochre-red magic missile whistled out of the tunnel.

——First Ring · Energy Shaping System · 【Arcane Swarm】

A variant of the first-level [Magic Missile] spell.

While retaining its unique force field damage properties, it trades the reduced power of a single missile for the increased number of missiles that can be released.

This is a specially improved and optimized version designed for low-level monsters like goblins, which are physically fragile but exist in large numbers.

The most troublesome characteristic of this type of spell, which requires an extreme degree of precision in controlling mental power, is essentially nonexistent for Vezel.

Step by step.

The moment she stepped out of the passageway, the leather boots beneath her beige robe finally touched the ground of the nest.

There were no living creatures left on the field.

All that remained were mutilated corpses with smashed skulls or hollowed-out chests.

His amber eyes shifted slightly as his gaze swept across the field.

No further forward.

The grey-white staff in his hand traced a subtle arc in the air, its tip, a deep green opal, shimmering faintly.

The original requirements for sound and posture were omitted and skipped, and the glow of the first-circle prophecy ritual spell [Detection Magic] instantly enveloped the entire cave.

"Ok?"

Feeling the emptiness emanating from her mind, Violet couldn't help but frown.

"No? That shouldn't be the case..."

One of the reasons she entered the Misty Forest was to find the goblin's lair where she was currently.

A magic ring with an unknown protective spell, and of decent quality, is hidden here.

She wasn't particularly interested in the ring's special effects. If it was just for self-defense, as the caster, she had more options and could adapt flexibly to different situations.

What truly sparked Violet's interest was the origin of the ring.

—A high-ranking arcanist from the Sea of ​​Stars, who owns a mage tower.

This ring is said to have been passed down from the other party's ancestors, and it was only passed down to this person after changes in the family.

With this ring, she should be able to establish a relationship with the other party and, under the pretext of personal connections, use their family connections to invite a professor from the Star Sea Enchantment Academy to enchant her staff.

This would save Violet a lot of gold coins.

Under normal circumstances, given her current skill level and status, it would be very difficult for her to invite an enchanting master of this caliber.

The reason why the origin of the ring and its possible uses after acquisition are so clear is...

It was because, in her memory, one of her colleagues when she worked at the Mage Tower in the future was the owner of this ring.

It was precisely because of this relationship with the arcanist from the Sea of ​​Stars that the other party was recommended and, despite not being particularly outstanding in arcane skills, gained the opportunity to work with him and toil in his mentor's laboratory.

During a casual conversation after an experiment, the other party recounted the origin of the ring in a complete and clear manner, including when he obtained it and the specific location where the ring was hidden at the time.

but……

As she mentally assessed her current location, Violet was certain she hadn't made a mistake.

There are no other goblin nests nearby besides this cave.

As for the possibility that someone else might get there first...

She clearly remembered that her colleague would not arrive in River Valley Town for another two years as a mage apprentice, and would only make a brief stop in the town to raise money for materials and join an adventurer's party to take on a quest.

The enchanted ring was obtained during his quest.

According to the other party, the ring came from an adult bear goblin.

But right now, let alone the bear goblins, there are only a few goblins in the nest, less than ten in total, which means that the colony has only recently been formed.

"Could it be that I arrived too early, preventing the ring from falling into the hands of the goblins?"

Violet guessed in her heart

After checking twice more and confirming that nothing was found, he turned and headed towards the exit.

A magical radiance flashed, and sparks burst forth from his fingertips.

Wisps of flame spread rapidly along the ground beneath their feet, burning and engulfing the entire cave, along with the corpses inside, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Violet stood at the cave entrance, with acrid smoke billowing behind her. Although she hadn't gotten the result she'd hoped for, her emotions remained relatively calm.

On one hand, there was the memory of the future in her mind, and the composure that came with being a superhuman spellcaster.

On the other hand, it's also because this enchanted ring wasn't the reason she came to Rivervale or even entered Misty Forest.

The reason she spent so much time traversing the entire Panyun Province to reach this remote town was for a more important, crucial plan that could greatly help her achieve her pre-job change goals.

Considering the potential chain reaction she might cause, she even sacrificed her precious time, which she was reluctant to spend sleeping, and arrived in River Valley Town more than two months in advance, just to avoid the possibility of missing out.

Compared to this project, the enchanted ring was something she could grab if she could, and it didn't matter if she didn't get it; it wasn't worth her investing more effort in tracking it down.

only……

A sudden encounter with Xia Nan, the "Omen of Death," his unexpectedly rapid growth, and the mysterious disappearance of a magic ring from the lair...

It always made her feel that there might be some kind of connection between them.

He shook his head slightly, deciding not to think about it anymore.

With a thought, the crystal at the top of the staff flashed again, and a semi-transparent light shield of the improved alarm spell quietly appeared around the body.

Recently, due to her encounters in the Adventurers' Guild and her experiences in the Misty Forest, much of her already limited time has been wasted.

The original plan was slightly disrupted.

Fortunately, I've made up for a lot of the lost sleep over the past few days by sacrificing some.

According to my calculations, I should be able to sleep two more hours tonight.

Thinking of this, Violet couldn't help but feel happy, and even the ponytail behind her head bounced lightly.

But for some reason, his brows, which had just relaxed, suddenly furrowed again.

"Or... just forget it?"

After such a long period of training, she has almost mastered the [Delayed Casting] feat.

Perhaps it's just a matter of two hours.

The sooner you grasp this key expertise that can greatly enhance your abilities, the higher your chances of winning in the future.

"Well, forget it."

Crushing the last trace of laziness in his heart, his expression, which had been filled with some expectation, gradually returned to calm, and he had already made up his mind.

hum-

The semi-transparent light shield surrounding her suddenly vibrated, and Violet's attention instantly focused.

My gaze followed the direction from which the sound came.

A small group of goblins were carrying half a rotting woodland wildebeest carcass, happily approaching them.

The improved [Alarm Spell] ensured that even though Violet was standing not far in front of them, these clumsy low-level monsters still failed to notice the slender mage girl.

Under normal circumstances, Violet would have already achieved her goal and confirmed that there was no magical equipment in the lair.

Based on the principle of maximizing efficiency, we should not create additional conflicts with these goblins.

She could simply leave after casting the alarm spell, knowing the other party wouldn't be able to find her anyway.

But perhaps it was the goblins' left foot that stepped forward as they approached her, or perhaps it was those maggots wriggling on the wildebeest carcass.

It couldn't possibly be a little whimsical because of the two hours of sleep that had already been reserved for specialty training tonight.

The concealment shield of the alarm spell quietly dissipated.

Accompanying the goblin's excited screech upon discovering fresh prey was the sharp whistling sound of a magic missile tearing through the air.

*Sizzle*

The fragile skull shattered instantly under the influence of the ochre-red force field energy.

Fragments of bone, mixed with thick, red and white blood, splattered onto the ground.

The goblin's thin, weak, headless body swayed a couple of times in place, like a broken toy, before collapsing to the ground, powerless.

Xia Nan retrieved his fist, which still retained a faint ochre-red glow under the blessing of [Gravity Etching].

His gaze swept over the characters "Proficiency +1" in the void ahead.

His face, stained with the enemy's blood, wore an expression of utter satisfaction and enjoyment.

"Comfortable."

His lips curled into a slightly sickly smile that he couldn't stop.

As for what makes it so comfortable, it's probably not because of the fact that I've reached level 2 in [Gravity Etching] through daily hard training.

It wasn't because it was close to the maximum level, but because it spent most of the past two months training hard and pushed its proficiency to almost half of level 4 with its [Fang Hunting] skill.

The satisfaction, enjoyment, pleasure, and ease they felt largely came from the scattered corpses around Xia Nan.

Most of them were no longer recognizable as human and their racial identity could not be determined.

But considering his current location—the dimly lit underground cave, the long, twisted severed ear in the corner, the slender arm with dark green skin, and the crude wooden stick lying in a pool of blood…

It can be inferred that these corpses are "goblins".

"Susu."

Small pebbles scattered as the iron-gray longsword was slowly pulled from the mud and stone wall, and the goblin's body, half of which had been pinned to the stone wall by the sword, fell to the ground.

He deftly twirled his sword, flicking away the blood that hadn't yet congealed on the blade.

The longsword, still stained with blood, was sheathed.

Xia Nan casually stuffed two gold coins stained with scarlet blood into his pouch, his gaze sweeping across the cave.

It has been confirmed that not a single goblin has any chance of survival.

Then he turned around and headed towards the exit.

Now, two months have passed since he finished his investigation of the beastmen.

Perhaps as a form of retaliatory compensation for the high-pressure, adventurous life he had been living in recently, he had not accepted any commissions that required traveling far or whose targets were too unfamiliar.

Instead, he stayed in River Valley Town and devoted himself to training his combat skills.

Cream of mushroom soup is a must, and the long-lost goblin lair has become an essential place for him to test his gains and improve the efficiency of his combat skills training.

It must be admitted that these lowly beasts, though ugly in appearance and vile in nature, are highly aggressive towards all creatures except their own kind, and are as disgusting as cockroaches and mosquitoes.

However, if you simply use them as tools to vent your desires and relieve stress, they are just as suitable and enjoyable.

The wooden sticks hitting his body caused no pain or itch. The weak individuals were so weak that even his armor could hardly be penetrated. Their exaggerated reproductive ability, which seemed endless, led to a large accumulation of monster bounties, guild missions, and loot. He could even casually earn a substantial sum of gold coins.

Compared to wasting money on drinking and gambling, Xia Nan increasingly felt that using goblins as stress-relieving toys was a wise move.

(End of this chapter)