On the ground were three items and a few copper coins, but Hermes wasn't concerned with the monetary gains. All three items in the dirt belonged to the Ether-Guard set. However...

"Where are the leg pieces? The monster was wearing them." Hermes turned around and mock glared at Rydr, putting his hands on his hips.

Rydr shrugged at the teen, unrepentant, "Too compromised to drop them? Plus, who knows, RNG may still have a say in the process."

The Titan wasn't too cut up about the whole set not dropping. It was unrealistic to expect that in a video game, and they weren't done hunting goblin patrols yet.

Urginok clapped the teen on his back and said, "Don't worry. You'll have a full set before the night is through."

Hermes huffed at them before he gathered the pauldron, vambraces, and cuirass from the pile of items. He quickly accessed his inventory and equipped the three armor pieces.

Misty light quickly gathered and dispersed, revealing the teen's half-dressed form. The team laughed lightly at his expense before they turned to assess their kill-box and the other piles of items.

Syrna walked ahead of the team, picking up items and retrieving her traps from the forest floor. One of the useful things she discovered when following Rydr's advice to make runes out of more than chalk was that these twig and twine traps could be carried.

Sadly, the innovation meant they needed to be activated again, which required the archer to spill more blood. However, the runic traps were too great an advantage to leave behind.

The second thing she discovered was they these traps were one-offs. The fragile traps burnt up after a single use because the medium was magically unstable.

The archer salivated at the idea of using her new techniques with her special runic chalk. Alongside Rydr's [Empower] spell, her magical capabilities lept forward in their deadly consequences.

Once Syrna finished collecting her traps, the archer selected a serrated dagger from the pile of gathered items before handing two more to Hermes and Niko, respectively.

The small weapon's range was laughably too short for Rydr to use against such small monsters, and Urginok had his own weapon, so the party prioritized maximizing their damage.

Rydr [Inspected] the serrated daggers out of curiosity.

Common Serrated Dagger Level 5

The rough work of a goblin clan. The weapon’s serrated edge leaves grievous, bleeding injuries.

· Requirements:

o Level 5

· Bonuses:

o +25 Damage

o +2% Bleed

· Weight: .3kg.

· Durability: 98/100

"Guess it was too much to ask for the low-end goblins to have good equipment drops." Although Rydr groused, he was intrigued by the weapon's bleed effect.

I wonder if it would stack? Death by a thousand cuts? Ultimately, Rydr supposed, the overall effectiveness was determined by the target's health regeneration.

If the target were too powerful, the small amount of bleed damage would barely matter.

The rest of the items were basically garbage that the goblins kept on them for some reason. Small keepsakes and trophies made up most of the pile.

Altogether, the patrol netted Rydr's party a total of twenty copper coins. They agreed to split up the money, giving everyone four coins without fuss.

After that, the party agreed to wait where they were while Rydr scouted the forest since his "night-vision" was the best.

The Titan activated his [Eyes], peering up at the massive trees around them before he crouched and lept diagonally into the air. With the aid of his "airball" trick, the giant quickly kicked off trees until he vanished into the darkness.

Back on the ground, Niko watched the Titan's massive form vanish, only a couple of broken twigs marking his passage.

"Why is the fucking giant a ninja?"

*****

Lord Garzer became ever more incensed as the night wore on at his clan's lack of competence. Fewer and fewer patrols returned to his ruined fort. He'd increased the number of patrols but tightened their radius, so they constantly cycled through the camp.

His goal was to work them to the bone, both protecting his own imminence and reconstructing his kingdom. The breeders could always make more, as long as their captives were kept alive inside the mine.

Now, though, it seemed that his clan's disrespect was beginning to show. The stupid goblinoids respected the brute of a warlord more than they feared his magic prowess.

Lord Garzer suddenly stood up, grabbing one of the passing goblins by its neck and incinerating him on the spot.

Once the clan was focused on him, the tiny hobgoblin screeched in its awful tongue, "Where are they? WHERE ARE THEY?"

The gathered goblinoids glanced fearfully between each other, wondering what their shaman was screaming about.

Eventually, Lord Garzer calmed down enough to send out additional patrols to search for the deserters, halting the reconstruction of his kingdom.

As his clan scrambled to follow his orders, the shaman sat down on his throne, biting his lip, and thinking about how he would make an example out of one of the hobgoblins.

There were getting too uppity, thinking they should be in charge.

*****

Out in the forest, the team began to grow ambitious with their ambushes. More and more patrols poured into the forest, forcing them to back off. For some reason, these new patrols ranged farther and failed to follow set patrol routes.

To find out why Syrna had Rydr carry her into the trees above the heads of the goblin patrols. There, the archer listened in on their conversations, increasing her mastery of the goblin tongue while spying on them.

After a few passes, the archer signaled Rydr. The Titan remained silent, leaping from tree to tree with his teammate under his arm until they reached the clearing where their team was hidden.

Rydr touched down in the center of the clearing, letting Syrna down as the party faded into the clearing from their hiding spots.

Urginok quickly asked what was on everyone's mind.

[Urginok: Are the patrols looking for us?]

Syrna shook her head, firing off a response after she made a few gestures in the air.

[Syrna: Negative, chief. The shaman, Lord Garzer, thinks that the patrols vanishing are deserters, objecting to his new regime. The new patrols are searching for those deserters.]

Hermes snickered, quickly sending a message. After a couple of hours of ambushing patrols, the team managed to gather a full set of Ether-Guard armor for him. The tiny speedster gained his own [Flexible Mind] feat a while before that, gaining his [Third Eye].

[Hermes: Idiot. Is their camp empty enough to go after him?]

Syrna shook her head again, but it was Rydr who responded.

[Rydr: No chance that the camp is that empty. Plus, I [Inspected] the shaman when I attacked the camp- he's too powerful for us.]

The Titan evaded making assumptions about the shaman's combat ability because he didn't know enough about magic. Lord Garzer was a "cheat" boss with one TPK skill after another for all he knew. (AN: TPK = Total Party Kill)

If the shaman was anywhere near Izor in magical might, then the colossus had total confidence in his team's defeat.

Niko sent hew own message to the party, voicing her concerns.

[Niko: Should we retreat to Grotto for the night? If the patrols are so close together, it's harder to isolate them. We may get overwhelmed.]

The team lapsed into silence as they considered her question. Although they managed to outfit Hermes and Urginok in complete armor sets, the rest of the team still lacked decent equipment.

One of the reasons Rydr was okay with farming for sets was because it would cut down on his crafting goals, for now. Eventually, the colossus planned to outfit his team in custom armor and weapons.

However, there were still a few steps before the Titan attempted to make wootz steel for the first time. Heck, all the aluminum power he purchased wasn't even meant for the legendary metal.

The powder was used to create one of the ingredients.

After thinking about it for a while and collecting his thoughts, Rydr sent a message to the group.

[Ryr: Let's keep going for now. There have never been this many vulnerable goblins, so it's our best chance to cull their clan.

Plus, I don't want to stop until we all have full sets of armor. Same as the goblins being vulnerable- we'll never get a better chance to grab more of the Ether-Guard sets.

Also, I've got a new plan.]

As the uninitiated party members, Niko and Hermes turned to the Titan and quirked their eyebrows at him curiously.

Behind the newer members of the party, Urginok and Syrna's eyes widened, faces turning pale as they flashed back to Rydr's previous plans.

*****

Deep within the dark forest, one of the goblin patrols tread forward fearfully. At first, their patrol was normal. Then the screaming started.

All around them, they heard roars and frantic, banshee-like screaming.

The three goblins turned to their hobgoblin commander, hoping that he would order them to return to the camp. All three of the child-sized monsters shivered in their loincloths as the wailing grew closer to their position.

The hobgoblin hesitated, determined not to show fear in front of its useless kin. As it was about to make a decision, the forest around them fell silent.

The goblinoids froze, listening for the screaming and roars. Even the prideful hobgoblin huddled closer to its compatriot's torch, forgetting itself for a moment.

A twig snapped, causing the entire patrol to whirl around as one. Nothing was behind them. Above their heads, a shower of twigs and leaves came raining down, startling the goblinoids and scattering them.

Then, more sounds began around them. Twigs snapped as something, or multiple somethings moved through the shadows around the patrol's clearing.

As one, the goblinoids began to back in the direction of their camp when something small burst through the copse of trees to their right, grunting and screaming wildly.

Bristling with leaves, whatever was with them blurred past the patrol in an instant, screeching and speaking gibberish. Before the patrol managed to turn around fully, the creature was gone, and the clearing was silent.

Except for the constant snapping of twigs all around them.

The goblinoids stepped towards each other, attempting to huddle protectively again, when something else burst through the clearing's edge, wailing and speaking gibberish.

As they turned to face it, another came from behind them. The blurred forms of what looked like plant beasts circled in and out of the clearing around the goblins, too fast to see clearly.

Truthfully it was only two. Hermes and Niko, covered in mud and plant matter held to their bodies with twine, circled in and out of the clearing at a blistering pace.

Under the effect of Niko's layered [Accelerate] spell, the two were arguably the fastest divers in the game. Both were grateful for their avatar's health regeneration repairing their vocal cords. Otherwise, they would've lost their voices long ago.

Within the clearing, the goblin party grew more agitated as more leaves and twigs fell on their heads. No matter where they looked, more creatures seemed to pour out of the dark forest.

Now, with the plant matter raining on their heads, they feared that these plant creatures climbed the trees all around them. Almost in unison, each goblinoid imagined themselves getting dragged away by the monsters.

Perhaps the plant elemental evolved instead of dying, as the clan hoped?

Hermes felt that the time was right and paused, lifting his head to scream an undulating wail out of the goblin's line of sight. Finished with the unique scream, Hermes got back and his hands and feet, scuttling away in a blur.

On the opposite side of the clearing, hidden by the trees, Niko responded to the call by circling to the East side of the ambush. The two divers sped into the glen side by side, screeching and swiping at the air from their hunched positions.

The monsters held still for the first time since the goblins became aware of them, allowing the patrol to sight the monsters fully. They recoiled from the sight.

Hermes and Niko were so covered with plants that they looked like lethal shrubbery come to life. Syrna went through the trouble of making twig and mud "mouths" for them, pulling the whole ensemble together.

Before the patrol had the chance to gird themselves for battle, since it was only two monsters, more leaves fell on their heads.

Above the clearing, Rydr fell through the air, having released his hold on the tree boughs. Similarly done up, Rydr's outfit emphasized his [Alpha's Pelt], although he still looked like a giant plant golem.

The Titian landed hard, shaking the ground, right behind his teammates. For effect, the colossus slowly stretched to his full height, his [Eyes] glowing inside his leafy wolf's hood, before throwing his hand forward and roaring.

Hidden inside the Titan's twig-covered pelt, Rydr stroked the hilt of Hermes' dirk, activating the side-effect of his [Savagery] style and doubling his [Intimidate] stat towards monsters.

Seemingly in response to Rydr's command, the two plant beasts lept forward.

Overwhelmed, the goblin patrol fell on their asses, falling all over each other as they ran blindly in the opposite direction.

Directly towards the greatly modified and expanded kill-box, made by Syrna and Rydr.

Hermes and Niko suddenly halted their charge, letting the patrol run away. The two divers stood up, shaking and stretching their bodies. Their section of the forest fell silent again as the screams of the goblinoids faded.

Rydr sent a quick message to the other two.

[Rydr: That's the sixth patrol. Same routine. Guide the patrol into the kill-box. I'll scout another group and call out. Come to me then.]

Hermes and Niko nodded at the Titan, grinning through their mud masks. Since the goblins were a few hundred meters away, the two comfortably jogged on two legs to catch up to them.

Before Rydr took off again, the giant checked his clock.

Three hours until sunrise. He hadn't returned to the kill-box, so Rydr didn't know if they collected enough armor yet. Nonetheless, the Titan checked his experience bar.

*[Level 7] EXP 5230/28,722*

Roughly eighteen percent of the way to level eight. Despite the distance, and possibly because of his role in creating the traps, Rydr's experience bar continued to shoot up every time a goblin patrol died.

He only hoped that everything was going well on Syrna and Urginok's side.