Chapter 45: The Dwarf

Keeping far behind the goblin all the way, they soon arrived at the side of a hillside, which was already the outermost edge of the mountain range.

It seemed that upon reaching this place, the terrified goblin regained much of its composure. A few more goblins appeared in the distance, seemingly communicating with one another.

Shortly after, following those goblins, they entered a cave.

"Did you see any scouting goblins around?"

George peered around carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

"Perhaps those few just now were responsible for scouting outside?"

Thinking about it this way, that was indeed very likely.

Karna grew a bit silent, gazing at the cave.

He had originally thought this group of goblins nested in the forest, but instead, they had established their lair within a cave.

If that were the case, it was impossible to determine the exact number of these goblins.

The only certain thing was that this group of goblins was definitely a small tribe.

"The smell of blood—goblins," Alirice suddenly said.

Hearing this, Karna turned to look at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, coming from inside the cave, not from the goblin just now."

Pondering slightly, Karna made a direct decision. "Let's get closer and take a look."

With that, the group walked directly to the cave entrance.

A faint stench drifted out from the cave, and Karna also caught the scent of blood within it.

"Did they start fighting among themselves inside?" George couldn't help asking. He didn't understand much, but felt it should be quite normal for such low-level monsters to fight amongst themselves.

Bobot immediately retorted, "Unlikely. Goblins rarely come into conflict with one another unless it's for competing over status. Most of the time, their hierarchy is strictly defined; even between different tribes, they can quickly merge due to the strength of their chieftain."

Having said that, she couldn't help looking at Karna, who was staring intently into the cave. "You don't want to go inside, do you? Goblins that nest in caves are the most dangerous, and we didn't bring any torches. It's extremely unsafe."

Although goblins nested in various places, without a doubt, the danger was highest in dark caves.

This was because they would hide in every nook and cranny of the cave, setting all kinds of traps, and on top of that, most goblins possessed a weak form of dark vision.

Anyone unfamiliar with the environment inside the cave could easily stumble and fall into trouble there.

Hearing Bobot's words, unpleasant memories instantly surfaced in Karna's mind.

When the game first launched, goblin tribes in caves were forever the newbie slayers. According to statistics, the number of player deaths in such places reached as high as 160,000, and that was just within the first week.

Unfortunately, Karna had lost at least two lives in such a place himself.

There was no help for it; after all, it was the first virtual reality game, which was a completely different concept from traditional video games.

Karna, having experienced three days of closed beta testing, was considered one of the lucky ones. The average death toll per player during the first week of the official launch exceeded 20 times.

Pulling himself out of the memories, the scent of blood grew stronger at this moment.

"Let's go, we're going in. Something is fighting the goblins, and a rare opportunity like this shouldn't be missed. George, hide outside and stay alert to the situation."

Karna made a prompt decision and led the others directly into the cave.

George nodded; indeed, the cave was not a place where he could perform well.

Moreover, he was well aware of his own limitations, figuring he might not even be able to beat that white rat.

After all, he couldn't make fire sprout from his fingers.

The three of them squeezed inside.

A stench and dampness rushed to meet them head-on.

You couldn't expect a goblin's cave to be very clean.

Bobot felt somewhat helpless, but more than that, she felt a trace of fear, shrinking back between the two of them.

She couldn't help thinking: *Why did I come in? Why did I listen to Karna?*

Ever since she was rescued by Karna, she had just muddled along following him, inexplicably becoming something like his subordinate.

It was pitch black all around, but the rat-man's dark vision began to take effect, allowing her to observe the surrounding environment.

Seeing this, Bobot asked, "Do you want me to conjure some light?"

After all, both of them were humans and apparently lacked dark vision.

"No need, we can see."

"Alright." Since he could control blood, having a little dark vision didn't seem like much of a surprise either.

Entering the cave, the group became vigilant, with Karna walking directly at the very front.

"Stay close behind me, watch out for the traps around us, and don't step on them."

Karna walked forward as he spoke, not stopping along the way. Weaving back and forth for a bit, it was clear he was avoiding various traps.

From time to time, he cast his gaze around, looking toward any spot where goblins might be hiding.

Yet, there wasn't a single goblin to be seen.

The stench and blood smell in the air grew heavier.

"Pick up the pace."

It was basically certain that some intruder had appeared in the goblin lair.

Soon, they heard the sounds of collision, seemingly accompanied by some sort of shouting and cursing.

Following that were the shrill cries of goblins.

Before long, they caught sight of the battleground.

"A dwarf?" Bobot instantly recognized what was fighting the goblins.

It was a dwarf.

Were there dwarves here too? Bobot wasn't very familiar with the area, but thinking of that massive mountain range, the presence of dwarves didn't seem so strange.

Karna narrowed his eyes as he looked over. The dwarf was only about a head taller than Bobot.

With a thickset build, he wore no armor, only some unfrayed ropes.

Clutched in one hand seemed to be a broken sword, while the other hand held a wooden club.

Relying on a broken sword and a wooden club, he was fighting the surrounding goblins.

Two or three arrows were also stuck in his body.

He was charging in a certain direction, but it was too dark there, beyond the range of dark vision.

"Come on, you little monsters!"

With a roar, he used his club to smash the head of a rushing goblin flat.

Swinging backward, he used the broken sword in his hand like a blunt weapon, hacking another goblin to death by sheer force.

The dwarf's strength was indeed immense.

However, a goblin behind him also drove its stone spear into his body, though it didn't seem to have wounded him too deeply.

Some stones were also hurled at him.

Fighting and dodging by rolling simultaneously, it was evident the dwarf had fallen into a disadvantage, surrounded tightly by goblins without any decent weapon in hand, nor even a sliver of armor.

"Never surrender!"

With an angry roar, a grayish hue appeared over the dwarf's body.

The arrows stuck in his body were blasted off, and further volleys of arrows could barely harm him anymore.

"Let's move."

"Wait for me!"

"Stay right there and just provide support for us."

Hearing Karna's words, Bobot immediately stayed put, hiding behind a boulder.

Alirice took the lead, charging directly into the fray.

A few goblins were violently sent flying from the impact, and with a backhanded sweep of her sword, three goblins were immediately cut clean in half at the waist.

Her immense strength produced an exaggerated visual effect.

Meanwhile, Alirice's arms had begun to turn slightly reddish, with several blood vessels bulging outward.

She was using blood magic to enhance her physical capabilities.

Even she was somewhat startled by this single strike, standing frozen in place for a moment to look at her own hands—the effect was far better than she had imagined.

Karna, following closely behind, rushed straight in along the path Alirice had cleared, stepped on a few goblins, and leaped to the other side.

Pinching with his left hand, the blood on the ground transformed into a bloody arrow that shot outward.

Yet, the effect of this blood arrow was much weaker than its appearance suggested, merely opening a small hole in the shoulder of a goblin.

"Oh well." Karna felt somewhat helpless; it seemed apprentice-grade skills were still too weak.

Swiping backhand with his shield, he batted a goblin away, then thrust his sword to skewer another.

Hooking with his left hand, the flowing blood transformed into a rope that flew forward, binding itself around a hammer.

That was the direction the dwarf had been trying to reach—his weapon, though his armor was indeed nowhere to be seen.

With a forceful yank, the blood pulled the hammer flying through the air straight toward the dwarf.

"Haha, you damned little monsters, you're done for!"

The dwarf performed a roll, picked up the hammer, and let out a hearty laugh.

A small ball of fire flew over from afar, slamming into a goblin.

The searing flames caused the goblin to shriek wildly.

At its cries, other goblins actually began gathering around it.

"Take him down, he's the chieftain," Karna shouted aloud as a reminder.

The one who had cast the flame was none other than Bobot in the distance. Having observed from the sidelines all along, she had a better view of the overall situation and pointed out the primary target for the group.