Open your monster encyclopedia

"The village is currently being invaded by goblins, and there are fewer tasks to complete. Everyone is focused on whether they can defend the village."

"But your expedition team arrived just in time, and you even have a Silver-rank adventurer. They should be able to handle those damned goblins!"

After chatting casually with the militiaman Kale about village matters for a few moments, Linsel gathered with the other adventurers and guards who were arriving one after another to wait.

Soon after, Sheriff Will, the Iron Fang squad, and the village chief of Linxi Village arrived.

At this moment, the village square was also surrounded by villagers and refugees. Will stood in the center of the square and made a loud announcement.

"Members of the extermination team, according to the village chief's intelligence, those goblins are very likely to come to the village tonight. I'm here now to arrange the village's defenses."

The [Iron Fang] squad is at the west gate of the village, while [Wolf Slayer] Linsel's squad is guarding the east gate.

All guards, assisting the village militia, along with six other bronze and iron-level adventurers each at the main gate, south side, and north side.

"There are only four of us at the East Gate?" Broken Arrow asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Goat": "You heard me right, but the sheriff must have his reasons for making this arrangement. However, he probably won't use us as bait to lure the enemy."

Linsel felt a little pressured when he heard this arrangement, which meant that this was not a key area to defend, since only he and three teammates were assigned to defend the east gate.

He sensed something was wrong and was about to step forward to react when the sheriff and Will had already left with the village chief, while the rest of the people were free to do as they pleased.

Well then, let's go check out the situation at the East Gate first.

Lin Sai and his three companions followed the cobblestone path to the east gate of Linxi Village to investigate.

The middle-aged adventurer laughed after seeing the terrain: "I knew it, the sheriff wouldn't make random arrangements."

Originally, there was a small earthen slope to the right of the East Gate area, and the village was situated on higher ground.

On the high ground, the enemy would have to expend a lot of energy climbing the slope to attack, not to mention that there was a small gate in the village's wooden fence, and the view was wide open, making it very effective for shooting with long-range weapons.

Claire touched the wooden fence. "I'm a little worried. Will this kind of wooden fortification be able to hold off goblin attacks?"

"We can hold off ordinary goblins, but it's hard to say about mutated goblins."

"Goat" paced back and forth: "The key is that we don't know what type of mutated goblins those are. Sheriff Will didn't say either. If he knew, he probably would have told us earlier."

At that moment, a deep, muffled voice came from behind.

"Don't worry, they're just goblins, they won't pose much of a threat."

Linse looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was the middle-aged mage of the Iron Fang walking towards them.

"Why are you worried about goblins? There aren't too many of them yet. If there were thousands of goblins, that would be a disaster."

"Don't underestimate goblins," Claire said firmly.

"I once saw a mutated goblin that was incredibly fast, much faster than me. If I hadn't used my combat skills to hide, I would have been done for."

After listening to Claire's account, the robed mage took out a small booklet from his person and began to read it.

"You're probably referring to the Shimmer Goblin. This variant is quite rare; it's a rare hybrid formed by combining with a Shimmer Hyena."

Linsel approached the mage and saw that the book in the other's hand was densely covered with writing and illustrations.

Could this be the monster encyclopedia that records information about monsters?

"Is this the Monster Compendium?"

The mage shook his head: "No, this is the 'Goblin Compendium,' which records dozens of goblin variants. The Shiny Goblin is particularly rare."

"Can I buy this book?"

The other person moved the booklet aside: "I'm not selling it. I want to look at it. If you want it, you can buy it at the Wind and City Guild. They have a lot there, and they also sell regular illustrated books."

"Goat" said, "I fought a goblin raiding party a few years ago. There were more than forty goblins in total, including those riding dire wolves, but I didn't find any mutants."

But I heard there are nearly a hundred goblins this time, so it's hard to say. If they're some kind of mutated species we've never seen before, and they're incredibly powerful, then we'll be in trouble.

The robed mage was quite confident: "It's alright, the probability of goblin mutants appearing isn't high. I'll tell you a key point, this is my speculation."

While goblin mutants can inherit some of their counterparts' abilities and have a different lifespan compared to regular goblins, they are incapable of reproduction, somewhat similar to mules produced from horses and donkeys.

"Is that so?" "Goat" scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

"This is just my speculation. The reason I came to this conclusion is because I heard a scholar say this when I was in the capital."

This goblin guide doesn't mention it, and there's currently no related research.

"So, you're studying goblins?" Claire asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"It's just a hobby of mine. Anyway, you don't need to worry too much. I came here to see 'Wolf Slayer' Linsel, and I'd like to exchange spells with him."

Lindsay perked up at this: "Since we have some free time, let's leave for a bit."

The two moved slightly away from Linse's squad members, and the robed mage continued, "'Wolf Slayer,' how did you learn the Flame Arrow Trick?"

Linsset was somewhat taken aback by the sudden question from the other party.

"Is it necessary to know this? I learned it by chance; it was from a... skill book."

The mage emphasized, "It's absolutely necessary. If you learned magic halfway through your life, it's just not right that you could cast it so quickly on the battlefield."

"I'm not really sure either... Now, let me ask you: how many times can an average person use a spell?"

"For ordinary magic tricks or first-level spells, it usually takes about three times."

……

After a brief exchange, the middle-aged monk left, and Linsel returned to the east gate of the village. There he saw "Goat" placing the items he had bought at the alchemy shop on the ground.

"The Molotov cocktails and rope nets we bought earlier, [Phantom], you're more agile, so you'll be the one throwing these items, how about that?"

"Me, I threw nets and Molotov cocktails?" the female vagrant asked in surprise.

"Is there a problem with this... Squad leader, do you think she's the best candidate?"

Lindsay also felt that Claire was the most suitable.

"Claire, you're practically a temporary member of our team now, since we don't have any other ranged weapons besides poison darts, so you'll be the one throwing them."

She shrugged. "Okay."

Time flew by and evening arrived.

As the sun gradually set, torches were lit throughout the village for illumination.

Linsset leaned against the wooden fence, looking out of the village with a bit of boredom.

Suddenly, he saw what appeared to be a dark shadow flash by in the distance.

Are those guys coming?