The midday sun shone hot, and a path in the forest winded into the distance until it was hidden by the new green leaves. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Byron tugged at the collar of his linen jacket, and the rising heat escaped.

There was a horse corpse lying on the path ahead, which was not a good sight to encounter in the sweltering summer weather. It's a brown Lucy horse. Travelers who need to travel far away like to buy this light horse with a steady walk and a gentle temperament.

Now the old horse, who had worked hard, was lying in the middle of the road, facing him with a black horseshoe. The cowhide pocket that fell to the ground next to it was slightly open, and a few dazzling gold coins were scattered on the overgrown mud floor.

The horse's abdomen had a huge opening, from which the rotting entrails slipped out and piled up on the ground, on which the wriggling maggots seemed to tell passers-by that it had been lying here for a long time.

However, this does not make sense.

Byron now stands in the Black Forest, far from the small town of Vík.

The path under his feet, called the Jackal Path, as the name suggests, is in the shadow of the forest, full of these terrible "ghosts" roaming around, preyding. The wolves that followed the smell of blood would soon gnaw the horse's corpse to a bare skeleton, and would never let it rot slowly like this, diffusing a faint smell of corpses in the stagnant air.

Byron watched his surroundings vigilantly—behind the dwarf chestnut tree to the right of the horse's corpse, a dark green-skinned foot was exposed, and a few goblin bandits who were hungry for strength and abusive were hiding.

He raised his brow slightly, the goblins wanted to use such a clumsy trap to attract their attention. Doesn't their dull minds understand that this is no different from a warning, but the Jackal Path has brought so many goblins to it, and the merchants who have disappeared on this road may not be separated from them.

The initial attack began seven days earlier, when villagers found a large pool of blood on a forest path, but the incident was only circulated in the town as a horror rumor.

Until a caravan and its cargo quietly disappeared along the Jackal Road. Lord Arnold, the lord of Vic, realized the seriousness of the matter.

The disappearance of several travelers, he can still ignore it. And the disappearance of a caravan made him feel a pain in his flesh, not to mention his inextricable interests with the caravan, just the rumors of robbers rampant in the territory could make him a laughing stock in aristocratic circles.

As a result, the entire garrison of Vic Town poured out, but unfortunately the other party seemed to have received the news and found no clues.

As is customary, Lord Arnold also issued a mission to search for caravans in the Explorers' Guild - success is good, and mercenaries who fail to do so do not have to pay a pension.

The few mercenaries in the town ignored this mission of unknown severity. Only Byron, a newcomer, wanted to find out, and of course they didn't know that young people had to go.

Byron pretended not to notice anything, and walked straight towards the horse's corpse, as the goblin had hoped, attracted by the gold coins on the ground. The swarm of flies lying on Lusima buzzed with fright from the ground and flew backwards like a tide.

He bent down, ready to pick up the gold coin.

The goblins, dressed in tattered trousers, rushed out from behind the chestnut trees with dirty sticks. Four green-skinned dwarfs who were only half a man tall, with red eyes and pointed ears.

This humanoid creature with unusually vigorous fecundity often appears in groups, attacking villagers and travelers passing by with overwhelming superiority in numbers. Obviously, attacking a lone adventurer like Byron, this group of goblins already felt that the victory was in their hands.

The young man bent the corners of his mouth, and stretched out his right index finger for a long time, facing the goblin rushing at the front. It tilted its head slightly in confusion, but unfortunately before it could figure out what it meant.

The churning cold air carried fine ice chips from Byron's slender fingertips, and he curled the tip of his tongue lightly to recite the last tremor of the incantation.

A ray of cold air and ice shards immediately hit the goblin's head from the front. It screamed, fell backwards, and slammed its green-skinned head, which had only a few stiff hairs, into the belly of the goblin that followed it. The unlucky guy immediately crouched down with his belly in his hands, and howled in a thin voice.

This spell is called Frozen Ray, a 0-ring trick of plastic energy that consumes 1 mana.

Byron quickly drew the short sword at his waist and looked maliciously at the two goblins rushing from the other side. They were glared at by this "ugly" big man, and a slight chill suddenly appeared in their hearts, and their feet instantly softened, but inertia had already rushed to the big man's eyes with them.

The young man didn't care what they were thinking, he took a step back, dodging the goblin's swinging stick, and slashed its neck with a backhand, and red blood immediately gushed out. Goblin's eyes widened in disbelief and he fell to the ground clutching his neck. A faint golden point of light flew out of its corpse and melted into Byron's chest in the blink of an eye.

The last goblin was visibly frightened, and it jerked to a halt from its gallop, its strong inertia causing it to bend over, which nearly knocked it to the ground, while good balance kept it steady.

The goblin touched his heart and let out a long sigh of relief. The little guy only remembered why he had stopped. It looked up in horror, the iron hilt growing larger and larger in its field of vision. Then it went black and fell to the ground.

Byron turned around, and the two goblins who had rushed out first covered their wounds, and had already fled into the bushes behind the low chestnut trees, holding their little heads and shouting in a jerky lingua franca, threatening and humiliating loudly.

Byron snorted coldly and grimaced ugly, and they both screamed and ran away in fright. Shaking his head, he pulled out a hemp rope from his backpack and tied up the goblin who had fallen to the ground. And it was lying motionless on the ground with its eyes closed, as if I was dead.

The young man ignored it, and his eyes became dull. A group of dark blue words formed an illusory panel, floating in his field of vision.

Byron, human male

Witcher Level 1: 0/100

Strength system: Spell, Ranged

Experience pool: 75

Health: 100%

Mana: 7/8

Expertise (not obtained) –

Skills: Illusion, Flash, Freezing Ray

......

Sure enough, only 1 point of experience went up. The young man smiled helplessly, and the virtual data on the retina gradually faded.

Byron crouched down and surveyed the goblins on the ground.

These dark-green-skinned goblins are extremely ugly. They are often confused with goblins in the countryside, and goblins are considered to be offshoots of goblins. But the truth is that the two are essentially different creatures.

Compared to goblins, goblins have narrower faces and thinner ears. The biggest difference between the two is the color of the skin, with goblins having skin ranging from orange to dark red, while goblins' skin is dark green.

In the Year of Venom, the Mysterious Lord of the Seventeenth Layer of the Abyss tempted a group of wood elves living in the southern hunting forest, and the depraved elves soon transformed into ugly creatures like goblins. Goblins are the creations of the Titans, evil and cunning.

Byron reached out and patted the goblin's face, bringing up a layer of slippery green liquid.

It held its head and continued to play dead.

Until Byron placed the dagger in his hand and lightly scratched a trail of blood. The guy was sobbing and yelling in Goblin language.

"Don't be noisy. Byron slammed a chestnut on the goblin's head and stopped its crying, "Take me to your lair!"

"Wow... Quack!" The little greenskin blinked in confusion as he held his little head.

The young man picked up the wooden stick that had fallen to the side and struck it the head: "They all curse in the lingua franca, but you can't, aren't you stupid!"

After a pause, he tilted his head slightly, stared at the goblin's pale red eyes, and said viciously: "If you lead the way, I won't kill you." ”

The goblin sucked the pale yellow snot, tilted his head and thought seriously for a while, blinking his eyes and hesitatingly said, "Really, really, don't kill?"

"Well, don't kill. Byron pursed his lips and nodded earnestly.

The nervous expression on the little guy's face eased, and he touched his round belly with his hand, and let out a long breath.

The goblin suddenly thought of the fate of the traitor, and immediately tears welled up in his eyes: "Traitor, leader, kill me." ”

The young man tilted his head and glanced at the woods, a little worried that the escaped goblins would lead a horde of their kind to revenge. He lifted up the weeping creature sitting on the ground and pulled it into the thick woods.

After trying to comfort him, the goblin sucked back the snot from under his collapsed nose. It rubbed its teary eyes and said, "You, protect me." ”

Byron hurriedly nodded, imitated the appearance of a knight, and said loudly: "I will always guard in front of you!"

The two of them struggled for a while before they finally set off smoothly.

Byron held the rope in his hand, and the other end was tied to the goblin who led the way.

Of course, it took a long time for the little one to remember what Byron had said to stay in front of it. It turned its head, timidly looked at the dagger swinging behind its back, and swallowed its doubts into its stomach in a resigned manner.

Hidden in the bushes behind the dwarf chestnut trees is a path that leads deep into the woods.

After Byron confirmed his direction one last time, he and the goblin went headlong into the forest. After walking along the trail for about ten minutes, the goblin slowed down visibly and showed a frightened expression.

"Fear and kill me. "The little goblin seems to be crying again.

Byron was startled, lowered his voice and asked, "What did you find?"

The goblin didn't answer him, and wept to himself.

Are there any other goblins nearby?

Byron was alert, and looked left and right—sunlight filtered through the gaps in the green leaves, and beams of broken golden light rendered the secluded forest like a fairyland. However, it doesn't look like there's a dwarf around.

The goblin hid behind the young man in fear and whispered, "Protection, Eminem." ”

Byron tilted his head, and Eminem was looking at him pitifully, his mouth pursed, and tears swirled in his eyes. He had no choice but to take the short sword and walk ahead. The goblin cracked its mouth and slammed into him from behind.

The young man staggered and looked back.

The goblin was jumping up excitedly and said in a smooth lingua franca, "Eminem got him!"

A huge force suddenly appeared under Byron's feet, and he grabbed his calf. He was instantly overturned by this force, lifted up, and hung upside down in the air. The surrounding area suddenly became lively, and the goblins rushed out of their hiding places, and the sound of wahoo and wah was endless.

Byron knew immediately what was holding his feet and neck—a trap.

I was deceived by a goblin!

Shame!

Byron's face flushed, and he swung his dagger as he prepared to cut the rope. The goblins on the ground were in an uproar. A goblin raised his gnarled wooden shortbow and shot an arrow at him. Fortunately, the goblins were not systematically trained and lacked the strength and skill they should have. The arrow grazed his side and nailed to the trunk of a tree behind him.

However, this also scared Byron into a cold sweat. He pulled a thumb-sized paper bag out of his belt bag and tore it open. The yellowish sulfur powder swayed from the air, and Byron tilted his head slightly, closed his eyes tightly, and hurriedly pronounced a single note

"Flhst"

A fist-sized milky ball of light emerged from Byron's palm and exploded, a blinding white light enveloping the area in an instant.

The goblins' vision immediately turned white, and tears slipped from the corners of their eyes. Mistakenly thinking that they were blind, the goblins let out a piercing scream and began to flee in a panic.

Byron struggled to his feet, and it took a moment for him to cut the rope and fall from the air. He deftly rolled on the ground, unloading the tremendous impact. The goblins caught their eyes in a panic and fled in all directions.

The young man, determined to be ashamed, walked a few steps and caught up with the guy who had picked up the money bag. It was clutching at its little pocket, crying and groping its way away. A sword slashed it to the ground and picked up the purse, Byron felt his anger calm down slightly, and praised the gold coin.

After leaving a few goblins in the forest forever, the rest of the guys ran away without a trace. He roughly scavenged the corpse, and there was nothing but a rusty short knife that could be exchanged for a few copper coins.

You can't snatch away those short rough sticks and their only fig leaf......

Byron looked up at the Old Bone Mountain not far away, where the end of the trail should be. The Explorers' Guild is tasked with finding out why the Jackal Path Caravan has disappeared southeast of Vic's town. If nothing else, the merchants and travelers have been dragged back to their lair by this group of murderous goblins.