The day began early for the people of Goldenveil.
Even without a priest, since the settlent’s only priest had died in a goblin attack a few months earlier, they always rose before dawn and began their prayers.
Faith in the Nine was very strong in Goldenveil.
Especially now, as the gods were seen as the ones who had blessed them with their new Lord.
Even without a priest to guide them, they remained completely faithful to the gods.
After their daily prayers, they made breakfast and went to work.
A simple, peaceful routine, but today, they were t with a different sight.
Their lord, fully clad in armor and with a sword at his waist.
"My lord... I truly think you shouldn’t go hunting alone with that woman! Allow to accompany you," Alaric exclaid, stepping in front of Ethan and Evelyn.
"The renovations at the barracks have already begun. You must inspect the construction," Ethan said.
Obviously, Alaric wasn’t needed to inspect anything. Ethan just wanted him out of the way.
The captain of the guard clenched his teeth, looked at the sun on the horizon, and then set off.
Well, if that son of a bitch were to be killed by goblins in so hole out there, it would be even better for himself.
With Alaric out of the way, Ethan left the settlent under the worried gazes of its citizens.
Alice was too busy ditating, and besides her, no one there would be able to stop him.
As soon as they began to move away from the city, Ethan pulled an XP bonus potion from his inventory.
He took a single sip before handing it to Evelyn, who stared at it with a strange expression before taking hers as well.
The beauty’s eyes widened and her face lit up.
That was an incredible potion!
"Ah... where should we start? You don’t want to just wander around randomly until we get ambushed, do you?" Evelyn asked, observing the surrounding forest with curiosity.
She had never before seen such a dense and oppressive forest.
"No..." Ethan shook his head, flashing a gentle smile.
He had spent part of the previous night studying the region’s maps, morizing everything he could, especially the goblin camps.
The western camp, with no more than one hundred and fifty goblins, was about fifteen kiloters from Goldenveil.
Too close for Ethan to feel even remotely comfortable with its existence.
The other two, to the east, were just over thirty kiloters away. Still too close, but he didn’t even dream of having enough power to destroy them yet.
Together, they numbered more than six hundred and fifty goblins.
"Let’s take a look at the western camp and, if possible, ambush a few goblin hunting parties. Those bastards are way too close to the settlent."
Evelyn nodded in response.
She didn’t care how dangerous it would be. In the end, they just had to fight their way out, right? A few damn green skins wouldn’t be a match for her axe.
After walking alongside Ethan for a minute, Evelyn turned her face toward him, studying his expression with curiosity.
Ethan was more relaxed than before, and it wasn’t just because of his power.
"What’s the card up your sleeve, huh? You’re ready to take that filthy pig down, aren’t you?" Evelyn gave a stifled chuckle, genuinely curious.
"You’ll find out in three weeks." Ethan returned the laugh, stretching and then quickening his pace.
"Hey, wait for ! Don’t trip and die just because I’m not by your side to save your life!" Evelyn exclaid, running after him.
The journey along the rugged trails lasted just over two hours. Soon, the two were just a thousand ters from the goblin camp.
They had stopped because, before observing the place, they needed to circle around it.
Since the camp was at the foot of the Eternal Mountains, the continent’s largest mountain range, whose peak had given the settlent its na, the best way to approach it was by coming up the mountain.
But to do that, they would need to get past a small goblin guard. Just twenty of them.
"We need to kill the ones with the horns first..." Evelyn whispered beside Ethan, watching the disorganized goblins roasting a boar.
Five archers, two spearn, and thirteen carrying swords, cleavers, and rusty knives.
Both spearn had horns tied to their waists, used to call for reinforcents.
"You take them, I’ll handle the rest." Ethan slowly drew his sword, calming his racing heart.
Evelyn also readied her axe. Her eyes sharpened as she watched the spearn sitting together on a log, their backs to them.
She inhaled, exhaled, and hurled the Skull-Breaker axe.
The blade focused on the aligned necks of the two creatures. The first goblin didn’t even realize his own death, the axe tearing through his neck.
The second’s eyes were filled with terror. He tried to react, but it was already too late.
The blade struck the skull, brain matter splattering across the tal as it continued on to a third goblin, lodging itself in his chest.
"Nice throw!" Evelyn cackled, advancing quickly toward the axe.
At the sa ti, Ethan reached the warriors from behind.
Directing his aura toward the sword, he used Aura Slash.
The blade sliced through the ribs of the goblin in front of him, and from it, a crimson thread of aura shot out in a rising arc, cutting down two others before vanishing.
Painful screams echoed through the forest and the creatures fell to the ground, blood, bones, and guts scattered across the damp grass.
In just an instant, a quarter of the goblins had been killed.
[You killed: 3x Insignificant Goblins, 10% XP]
Ethan couldn’t help but be surprised. More than three percent for each goblin, which ant thirty of them equaled an entire level.
Considering how quickly goblins reproduced and how easy they were to kill, it was a massive gain.
Exchanging glances with Evelyn, the two began the slaughter, bathing their blades in the filthy blood of those green skins.
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