Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”I knew it!”

The moment Ron spoke, the hall filled with jeers and laughter. But no one took it seriously. After all, Ron was a Mage, not an archer. Unless some powerful entity was temporarily controlling his body, using a bow and arrow for Casting was just an experiment, a little something extra.

Even if he didn’t bring a single arrow, it wouldn’t hinder Ron from fulfilling his role in battle in the slightest.

”It seems everyone is ready. Shall we depart?” Just then, the three Casters from Elden Academy appeared unhurriedly at the top of the second-floor staircase. But aside from Elden, the other two students couldn’t be described as ”ready” by any stretch of the imagination—they didn’t even look fully awake!

”Lord, don’t you need to prepare your Magic?” Gordon yawned, staggering down the stairs. Shiva wasn’t any better off than her classmate. ”I spent hours choosing my Magic, and only got a wink of sleep right before dawn.”

”Same here,” Shiva’s makeup was at least a layer thicker than at last night’s banquet, just barely managing to cover her dark circles. ”My Lord, what kind of Magic do you usually prepare for life in the Delusional Land? You must be very experienced with this!”

”Me?” Ron paused for a moment. ”I don’t think I’m a good example. I don’t use a Spellbook for most of my Casting.”

”Besides, you don’t need to worry about your Magic selection right now. Our first stop alone is more than a day or two’s journey away. It’s useless no matter how well you prepare at this moment.”

”I told them as much, but alas, the young are just too young.” Elden chuckled, striking a classic ’I-told-you-so’ pose. He patted his waist, where a custom Scroll Bag was wrapped, holding eight neatly arranged Arcane Scrolls.

If they ran into danger, he could pull out a Scroll and tear it open at any time. The Casting speed would be no slower than conventional chanting.

”Back at the academy, I told you more than once that Casters should make it a habit to create their own Scrolls and potions in their spare time, just in case. Well? Bet you wish you had more now that you need them, don’t you?”

”Even old relics have their uses,” Delaford said with a sly grin, shooting Elden a provocative look. ”After all, just living to his age is a testament to his strength. Dwarves may live long, but not many make it to be *that* old.”

”Same goes for goblins,” Elden returned, not annoyed in the least, though his words were sharp. ”According to statistics, the maximum lifespan of a goblin should be around eighty years, similar to humans. But in a sample size of over twenty thousand, less than ten percent of goblins live past twenty. You must be one of the elites of your people.”

”I’m only eighteen or nineteen!” The Goblin Hunter’s face darkened at his words, and he glared at Elden through gritted teeth.

”Ah, my apologies then. Perhaps I should wish you luck in becoming one of that ten percent?”

Victoria patted Delaford’s shoulder reassuringly. ”Don’t worry. Very few in that twenty-thousand-goblin sample could use Divine Magic, let alone have a Priest traveling with them.”

”As long as we stick together, I guarantee you’ll live until you die.”

Sera, already one foot out the door, chimed in, ”By being resurrected over and over? Delaford would definitely be tempted to end it all himself!”

”Bullshit!” The teased goblin’s face flushed, and he broke into a run, chasing after her.

Just as Ron had said, Gordon and Shiva’s sleepless nights spent preparing their Magic were all for naught. The group made Ghost Witch Polly’s former lair their first destination. They traveled on and off, and it wasn’t until the fourth day that they finally glimpsed the Ghost Witch’s hut, hidden amidst the trees and swamp.

Having been left untended, the hut had fallen into a shocking state of disrepair in just a month or two. If not for the group’s good memory, they might have thought they were in the wrong place.

”No traps? And no Illusion Realm?”

The student, Shiva, clutched a notebook, exercising extreme caution as she followed closely in Dean Elden’s footsteps. She didn’t dare tread on the path Ron’s group had taken, and her male classmate was just as timid.

”Can’t you see no one lives here anymore?” Silvia pointed a hand at the hut, its door hanging wide open. ”With no master, how could there be an Illusion Realm? Who would maintain it, the frogs in the swamp?”

”As for traps, well, there are some. Here, like this one.” Delaford kicked away a patch of mud and, to Shiva’s gasp, stomped on a fishing net. ”This is our fifth time here. I’ve practically scraped the topsoil off this place myself. How could there possibly be any active traps left?”

”But you should be careful about those frogs Silvia mentioned. The last time we worked with the Ghost Witch, two of her Redcaps turned into frogs to stand guard nearby, watching the house for her.”

As he spoke, the Goblin Hunter suddenly feigned surprise. ”Look! Is that frog by your feet one of the transformed Redcaps?”

The students’ shrieks instantly echoed across the swamp. Having succeeded in his prank, Delaford watched them frantically cast Magic into the swamp to blow up frogs, laughing so hard he collapsed onto the muddy ground, rolling around in hysterics.

”You two should put down your books and look at the actual situation around you,” Ron said, suppressing his laughter as he and Elden stopped the two students from blasting frogs in the swamp. ”You’re always talking about how much time you spent considering which Magic to prepare and how to coordinate them, but when you actually need to use that Magic, you can’t seem to remember any of it.”

”Where’s your Reveal Invisibility? Your Detection Magic? If you have Scrolls, you could try using one to find traps. If you’re suspicious of your surroundings, use your own eyes to look!”

”Sigh...” Watching his students embarrass themselves one after another, Elden couldn’t help but cover his eyes, unable to watch. ”They really don’t get exposed to this kind of thing at the academy...”

”I understand, I understand,” Ron said with a wave of his hand, indicating that the dean needn’t worry. ”Everyone has a first time. We’ve all been through it. It’s just that some people adapt quickly, while others take longer.”

”But I’m confident that with time, they’ll definitely gain enough experience to handle any situation with ease.”

”But their adaptation period had better not be too long,” Sera and Delaford said in unison. The two, perfectly in sync, immediately high-fived and headed toward the Ghost Witch’s wide-open hut. ”The wilderness doesn’t wait that long. It has a way of making sure creatures still ’adapting’ graduate early.”

”Take this place, for example,” Delaford said as he walked up the steps, looking back at the two still-shaken students. ”Since no Ghost Witch has lived in this hut for a long time, it could easily become a den for some monster or wild beast. If you just barge in recklessly, it’s easy to—why are you all looking at me like that?”

The Goblin Hunter scratched the back of his head. A puff of hot air suddenly blasted him from behind, seeping under his collar and into his clothes. It was immediately followed by a thick, foul-smelling drop of liquid that trickled down his neck.

”What the...” Delaford turned his head, and his entire field of vision was instantly filled by a massive, gaping maw with yellowed teeth. The breath and liquid he had just felt had come from this newly appeared giant mouth.

The eighteen-year-old goblin instantly leaped away, letting out a sharp, explosive cry.