Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 390: The Enemy Of My Enemy Is Not Necessarily A Friend

After spending hours infiltrating the depths of the forest, Alex and his group hid themselves inside a cave to spend the night.

Their venture had been fruitful since they had successfully located the Goblin Nest. But since there were too many patrols around and they’d wandered long enough, they decided to find a safe place to rest and recover their energy.

In the darkness, the hooting of an owl broke the silence, and yet, it didn’t stop the nocturnal creatures of the forest from prowling about.

After eating an early dinner, Lumi volunteered to check the Goblin Nest, planning to find out what kind of Goblin served as the clan leader.

Alex and Mark remained hidden inside the cave, aware that they lacked her ability to enter and exit the Goblin Nest undetected.

Although there was a chance that a Goblin Mage or a Goblin Shaman would sense her presence, the Foxkin alter was confident that she would be able to run away if push came to shove.

Dim Dim quietly napped atop Alex’s head, exhausted from its scout duty during the day. The little bun had also fought alongside them, so Alex had no reason to stop it from sleeping peacefully after dinner.

The fluorescent crystal they used as lighting dimly illuminated Alex, allowing Mark to observe the young man.

He had thought the Friden student was all talk, but after spending some time with him, he realized that Alex seemed quite proficient when it came to team battles.

Whenever the silver-haired young man gave them orders, he did it so well and smoothly like he was already experienced in leading groups.

Technically, this was true since Alex had been one of the Raid Leaders of Endless Horizon.

Also, in every Raid Boss Battles, he would always be at the front of the main team, which had composed of the strongest units in their guild.

”Alex, what do you think?” Mark asked. ”Are the Goblins being led by a Goblin Champion?”

”I don’t know,” Alex replied. ”But we’ll be lucky if it’s just a Goblin Champion.”

A Goblin Champion was a Rank 4 Field Boss that could command an entire Goblin Clan numbering in the hundreds.

Based on the number of Goblins they had encountered along the way, as well as the quality, the leader of the Goblins was definitely Rank 4 at the minimum.

Mark frowned. ”So you think the leader might be a ...?”

Alex didn’t reply right away. Right now, his Difficulty Rating was in Hell Mode.

He was afraid that if he were to mention a higher-ranked Goblin, it might just come true!

But even if he didn’t say it out loud, he had a strong hunch that they would soon face a higher ranking goblin.

”With a goblin army this large, I’m thinking of a few other candidates,” Alex answered carefully. ”They can be a Goblin Warlord, a Goblin High Shaman, or a Goblin Berserker.”

”A Goblin Warlord sounds like big trouble.” Mark grimaced. ”But a Goblin High Shaman or a Goblin Berserker... those are pretty scary.”

A Goblin Warlord was a Rank 5 Field Boss Monster, while a Goblin High Shaman and a Goblin Berserker were both Rank 6 Field Boss Monsters.

Above them was Goblin King, a Rank 7 Field Boss Monster.

Last but not least was a Goblin Overlord, standing at the pinnacle as a Rank 8 World Boss Monster.

Their mission was to investigate the cause of the recent monster sightings around Oak Village.

Now that they had found the Goblin Nest, which was only seven miles away from where the villagers lived, Alex knew everyone only had two choices.

The first one was to gather all the Hunters of the village to fight and ask for reinforcements from the Adventurer’s Guild.

The second option was to evacuate to Poca Poca Town first, then ask the local noble of the area for help.

Since the threat was within their territory, the noble had to be the one to post a commission notice at the Adventurer’s Guild with an appropriate reward for the monster subjugation.

However, Mark didn’t believe that the Viscount of their domain would approve of this quest.

The Ashenbark Forest was quite far from most towns, so the monsters there posed no threat to them.

Most likely, the Viscount would choose the easiest way out and order the villagers to relocate to Poca Poca Town—or another nearby town—and just forget about their old home.

An hour later, Lumi finally came back, and her expression was grim.

”The one leading this pact is a Goblin High Shaman,” Lumi reported. ”But his second-in-command is a Goblin Warlord. I don’t think it’s wise to att—”

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the night, interrupting Lumi.

”That’s a human scream, right?” Alex asked. ”Did a villager wander this far at this hour?”

”Impossible!” Mark shook his head. ”We never travel this far into the forest, especially after the recent monster sightings. Also we have a curfew. We always return to the village an hour before sunset.”

While they were talking, another scream reverberated inside the forest, shocking Dim Dim from its deep slumber.

”Lumi, check what is happening outside,” Alex ordered.

”Okay!” Lumi once again became invisible and left the safety of the cave.

”Aren’t we going to help?” Mark asked.

”It’s too dangerous outside right now,” Alex warned. ”That scream would have alerted all the goblins in the surroundings. If we were to go out now, there’s a risk that they would discover us. Also, if you are correct, then those screams aren’t from the villagers.”

Seeing the villager scrunching up his face, Alex tried to be more reassuring. ”Let’s just wait for Lumi to return before we make a move. I know you’re very worried about those humans, but if we make a mistake, we might find ourselves surrounded from all sides and unable to help them.”

Knowing that Alex was right, Mark forced himself to calm down. Those screams couldn’t possibly belong to the villagers since they strictly followed rules set for hunting in the forest.

Most importantly, getting discovered by the Goblins while investigating what was happening outside was a death wish.

”Dim Dim!” Dim Dim suddenly warned them after sensing some monsters moving outside of the cave.

Since the entrance of their cave was covered with vines, it would not be easy to spot them.

Even so, Mark returned the fluorescent crystal inside his storage ring, eliminating all light sources inside the cave.

Alex and Mark remained completely still, waiting for the monsters to walk past their hiding place.

A moment later, they heard the sound of battle.

Explosions from spells and goblin shrieks filled the night.

It’s obvious that a battle was taking place just outside the cave. Alex and Mark couldn’t help but wonder who had the bravery—or stupidity—to clash with Goblins this deep inside the forest.

While waiting for Lumi to return, an idea popped up inside Alex’s head.

’Why didn’t I think of that?!’ Alex thought as he opened his System Map, allowing him to see the areas they had covered inside the forest.

As soon as the map appeared in front of him, Alex saw countless red dots moving towards a part of the map where twelve blinking yellow dots were located.

There was also one green dot among those countless red dots, which Alex believed to be Lumi.

The Yellow Dots represented semi-hostile creatures who wished to harm Alex, marking them as potential enemies.

The Red Dots represented the monsters, while Green Dots represented allies.

Last but not the least, if there were White Dots on the map, those represented neutral creatures.

’Enemies?’ Alex thought as he looked at the yellow dots currently surrounded by countless goblins. ’The only ones I have offended as of late are the Demon Worshipers. Could they be Demon Worshipers?’

Alex had no idea how accurate his guess was. But it didn’t really matter. Since they were hostile against him, he cheered silently for the goblins to eliminate whoever they were.

Half a minute later, Lumi returned to the cave and reported the information she gathered from the outside.