Wiping out a Goblin Settlement (1)

The three were roaming around the forest, hunting one goblin group after another. It was rare to see a goblin roaming around by itself, as they move in a three-man cell at least.

For fighting, they approach it using two methods. The first method is a surprise attack if they weren't discovered first. Kali was good at this, as she is a cat-beastwoman. Her steps were so quiet that even dried leaves didn't let out a single crunch when she passed!

After Kali initiates her first attack, which more often than not takes out two goblins at once, Cassy would then charge in and land a critical on the disoriented, scared enemies. This pattern repeated over and over, making the two gain most of the experience from this method of hunting.

The second method was when they were the ones who received surprise attacks instead. It was rare, though, as there were two of them who had decent detection skills. Other than the initial surprise when they just entered, they only got ambushed two more times.

"You two... Leave some for me too." After the two had just decimated their 30th group of goblins, Aster begged. "At this rate, I'd be stuck in level 2 while you two advance!"

Aster had been estimating the "EXP (mana)" they gained ever since entering. For example, they need 100 slime's worth of EXP to level up from 1 to 2. Based on this, Aster hypothesized that you need 100 same-level enemies' worth of experience to level up.

Regarding how much EXP lower-level enemies give to them right now, he still had to get more data and calculate it. But as a rule of thumb, he halved its value.

Given that, Cassy was well above 50% experience already, with Kali already earning about 20% based on her contribution. For Aster, he only got 10% at the moment, making him the one getting the shorter end of the stick.

"It's your fault since you're too slow," Kali explained in a grumpy voice. "The enemy wouldn't wait for you, you know?"

Cassy, on the other hand, moved to Aster's side and patted his head like a mother appeasing her child. "Sorry, Star. Then, I'll try to keep the next one alive for you to finish!" She added.

"N-No, I'm not really asking to be spoonfed... Gosh."

Aster felt embarrassed. The two girls in his party were, without a doubt, stronger than he was physically! 'I should level up fast and balance my stats soon!' He swore to the heavens above.

"Stop."

And just as they were walking peacefully, Kali raised her hand and commanded everyone to halt. "This place is..." She whispered while looking around, her gaze sharp as ever.

"...!"

At the same time, Cassy's ears perked up. She was observing the sound in her surroundings, which gave her a dire expression. "T-This is bad... We're surrounded!"

"Shit, again?!"

Aster turned to look behind, trying to see where the goblins were and to eliminate blind spots for the team. However, he couldn't see even a single shadow around them.

"They're still far away, but their encirclement is already complete," Kali explained further before frowning deeply. "It seems like we've entered a goblin settlement without noticing."

An encirclement from over a hundred meters away. Just hearing this, Aster could already imagine the number of enemies.

"Do we fight? Or do we run?" He asked for Kali's opinion, as she was the one with the highest level and the most experience among them.

She turned to Aster before sighing while shaking her head. "Did you not hear about us being surrounded? Or are you deaf? We can't run."

*WHISTLE!*

"Incoming!"

Cassy's shout alerted the two. Seeing where she was pointing, Aster and Kali turned to look and saw a volley of crude arrows following a high arc, heading for them. Most got stuck on branches of trees, while only a small amount managed to reach them, but it was still deadly nonetheless.

Thankfully, they were able to hide behind cover at the right time, saving them from turning into porcupines from all those arrows.

Kali bit her lip before pulling out her weapon. Not the daggers, but her revolver instead. "No choice! Star, we'll thin down their numbers first. Cassy, keep up! We're moving!"

Without a hint of doubt about her words, Aster pulled his pistol and removed the safety before turning it to manual firing mode. He rushed right behind Kali, with Cassy following behind him.

*BANG!* *BANG!*

Kali shot first, pulling the trigger twice on her small revolver, causing a puff of smoke to come out of its barrel.

*SCREEE!* *THUD!*

The ones she shot at fell down immediately, with a newly opened bullet hole in the middle of their foreheads. The ones she shot at were still 70-something meters away, proving her high marksmanship!

"My turn...!"

Aster pointed his gun forward while running—copying Kali—and fired. However, his bullet didn't reach the goblins and instead buried itself in one of the trees.

"You suck!" Kali growled in reprimand.

Aster gritted his teeth as he countered, "I can't help it! You think I have experience firing a gun?!"

The recoil control was bad enough, and he also had to fire while moving. As a complete beginner, he should be praised for not losing control of the gun as he pulled the trigger, at least.

Aster didn't stop at one shot and fired a few more times in succession.

*PEW!* *PEW!* *PEW!* *PEW!*

Of the shots he fired, one bullet, the last one, finally found its way and hit a goblin. However, it wasn't but a flesh wound, not enough to stop the little monster.

"... I'm getting the hang of this!"

Aster's learning ability was high; as such, with just five shots, he already managed to gain a decent level of accuracy.

*PEW!* *PEW!*

Two shots were fired, and both landed accurately. One landed on the left shoulder, while the other embedded itself right in the middle of the goblin's forehead.

"Nice! One down!"

At the time he finished one, Kali had already emptied her revolver and was reloading. Compared to Aster, who used 7 shots to finally kill one, Kali's revolver's seven shots killed exactly seven goblins. One shot, one kill!

Soon, the three reached the edge of the encirclement, slipping through the small opening created after they killed those positioned there.

"Quick! We must find somewhere we can limit their attack directions!" Kali shouted as she continued onward.

Although they just got out of the encirclement, they were still far from being safe.