To Lynn's surprise, their employer this time had actually rented a carriage.
Talk about wealthy.
The carriage's curtain was pulled back, and a girl appeared in their line of sight.
The monk led the group onto the carriage, saying politely, “It is no trouble. You are the employer, so it is only right that we wait.”
“I will add two more silver coins to each of your pay for this quest. I am truly sorry!”
The girl pressed her hands together and apologized to everyone.
The adventurers instantly beamed with joy.
She was beautiful and kind.
Lynn sized the girl up.
She looked about the same age as him, with beautiful, long blonde hair and lovely sapphire-blue eyes.
She wore midriff-baring leather armor and a tactical belt around her waist, which was packed with a tight ring of gear.
With just a quick glance, Lynn spotted things like a hand crossbow, potion vials, dual daggers, and scrolls.
Holy cow!
Although Lynn didn't know exactly how much these things cost, he had a feeling they definitely weren't cheap.
Take her leather armor, for instance.
It bared her midriff and didn't look like it offered much protection, but Lynn couldn't help but notice a faint, flowing shimmer on it, as if it were a piece of magical equipment.
With a setup like that, she was definitely some wealthy young lady playing at being an adventurer.
However, her niche seemed to clash a bit with his.
Lynn considered himself an apprentice rogue, while the girl also seemed to be a Rogue.
Still, the party composition was relatively balanced.
A monk leader, a knight as the vanguard, a longbow ranger as the damage dealer, while he and this suspected rogue (Rogue) provided support from the flanks.
Compared to a traditional party in a Western fantasy world, they were only missing a spellcaster like a Priest or a Mage.
Of course, these were just conclusions Lynn drew based on his past gaming experience.
Lynn knew absolutely nothing about how humans in this world actually acquired extraordinary powers.
Whether these adventurers actually had such specific class divisions was also mere speculation on his part.
Even now, the class slot on Lynn's character panel remained "None."
Compared to when he first left the village, the only thing that had changed was the Talent Points on his manual.
During his days as a "goblin slayer" in Wingen Town, he had already gathered quite a few Talent Points, and the "Strong Goblin" talent had long been activated.
【Strong Goblin: Strength +1, Constitution +1】
After activating the talent, both his Strength and Constitution increased by one point, reaching 6 and 5 respectively.
This meant that Lynn had not only caught up to a healthy adult in terms of Constitution, but his Strength was already a notch higher than that of an average person.
Furthermore, the next tier of the talent tree was finally no longer a single, isolated path.
Strong Goblin had two subsequent evolutionary branches: one was 【Goblin Warrior】, and the other was 【Goblin Apprentice】.
The former was a sturdy, muscular green-skinned monster wielding a large club, while the latter was a spellcaster who was as short as other goblins but had glowing eyes.
Both of these talents required a whopping twenty points to activate.
Lynn currently only had thirteen points left.
Furthermore, Lynn didn't know if these two branch talents could be activated at the same time, nor was he sure of the exact differences between them.
Perhaps once he saw these two types of monsters with his own eyes and unlocked their entries in his encyclopedia, he would be able to see the specific attributes of both talents.
He was only seven points away from activating the next talent.
...
With the employer here, the group immediately decided to set off.
The carriage rode very smoothly; it seemed the driver was highly skilled.
It took about a few hours, and by the time the carriage finally stopped outside a forest, night had almost fallen.
Located to the east of Wingen Town, this forest was essentially the starting zone for the town's adventurers. Most greenhorn adventurers would come here to gain some experience.
The destination of Lynn's party this time was a goblin nest located inside.
As darkness fell, only the stars above and the fires on the ground were faintly visible in the world.
The forest was exceptionally quiet tonight; even the cicadas had fallen silent, to the point where they could hear the dry leaves cracking beneath their feet.
The group walked in silence through the forest, with the ranger taking up the central position of the formation.
As the party's only ranged damage dealer, his safety was of the utmost importance.
“According to the information provided by the nearby villagers, there should be about a dozen goblins in this nest,” the monk said in a low voice, sharing the details of the request.
Solon the knight chimed in, “If there are only a dozen or so, it should be fairly easy for our party to handle.”
As the knight spoke, he looked at their employer, the girl named Betty, clearly wanting to reassure her of their strength.
But Lynn felt a sudden twinge of unease.
His attention was drawn to something on the ground.
Frowning, Lynn looked at the footprints on the ground.
A few of the prints did not look like they belonged to goblins; they seemed more like those of some large, predatory beast.
This doesn't feel right...
Thus, Lynn took the initiative to suggest, “I feel like the footprints around here are a bit strange. How about we send someone to scout out the cave first before making our plans?”
Seeing that this savage from who-knows-where dared to speak up, Hal the ranger instantly found another reason to snap at him.
“Who's going? Why don't you go in and scout for us then?”
“Then I will go.”
Lynn's face was completely calm as he spoke.
“You?”
The ranger looked at the savage suspiciously.
What was this savage trying to pull all of a sudden?
Hal had originally thought Lynn wanted the rest of them to do all the heavy lifting, which was why he had spoken so harshly.
But if Lynn intended to go himself, then that was a different story.
The usually taciturn knight spoke up. “Little brother Lynn, there's no need to push yourself. We can easily handle a small goblin nest on our own; there's no need for you to go scout it out.”
Lynn shook his head.
He wasn't choosing to sneak into the cave just to bicker with the ranger.
Rather, those massive footprints had given him a very bad feeling.
Lynn chose to trust the intuition brought by his high Perception attribute of 7 points.
Rather than risking a party wipe due to unexpected circumstances once the battle started, Lynn naturally preferred to gather information and prepare in advance.
Most importantly, Lynn was very sure of one thing:
With his Agility attribute at only 5 points, it probably wasn't higher than these adventurers'.
If things really went south...
...he would most likely not be able to outrun his teammates.
The monk said, “Little brother Lynn, goblins have a very keen sense of smell. An ordinary person who hasn't mastered the Stealth skill cannot possibly sneak into their cave right under their noses.”
Lynn didn't reply. He simply bent low and activated his 【Stealth】 skill, instantly vanishing from everyone's sight.
The presence-erasing effect of Stealth was equally effective against a keen sense of smell.
“He... he can use a Skill?!”
Seeing this, the ranger gasped in astonishment.
His expression shifted rapidly. He clearly hadn't expected this savage, who had just arrived in town, to actually be a semi-class-holder who had mastered a Skill.
The other three also reacted with varying expressions.
Although Gan the monk and the knight were surprised, they kept their reactions relatively subdued.
Betty, on the other hand, was full of excitement. She had already developed a strong interest in this "ordinary villager," Lynn.
Rate on N.U.
