Chapter 38: Hobgoblin

Cathie POV~

“Everyone ready?” Leah asked while gulping a mouthful of saliva. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Despite how she behaved, I could tell from one glance that she was nervous. I couldn’t blame her. It would be her first time fighting a hidden boss of the dungeon. Until now, she only fought those roaming monsters and raided low-level dungeons.

When I was roaming around with my teacher, we had come across many such hidden bosses. All those times, my teacher would make me fight them. If things become too overwhelming for me, then only she would intervene. Although it was hard, I gained valuable experience from those fights. It also helped me polish my strategy and quick thinking. Moreover, the satisfaction I got after winning an arduous battle was unexplainable. After every battle, my teacher would explain to me where I did wrong and where I should improve.

Despite all her faults, the respect I had for her was immense. She was stupidly strong too.

“Are you nervous?” I asked knowingly.

“No, I am not.” She shook her head and looked at me with her eyes narrowed. Though she tried to glare at me, the sweat on her forehead gave her away. Suddenly, I remembered a dirty joke I once read somewhere and decided to use it on her.

“Fufu! You may deny it with your mouth, but your body is honest.” Covering my mouth with the sleeves of my cloak, I chuckled.

“What do you mean by that?” Leah didn’t understand it and therefore asked me with a frown. I sighed sadly since the joke lost its meaning. “Nothing. It was just a joke.” What else could I say? It's not like I could explain it. Things would become awkward for both of us.

“Okaaaayyy!” She dragged that word while giving me a look that told she didn’t quite believe it.

“We Open!” Logier’s shout pulled us form our playful bickering. Nodding to each other, we prepared all our defensive and escape means, just in case. We learned our lesson already. We shall not make the same mistake again. Also this time, orcs and goblins will accompany us.

Logier, the orc chief, had arranged some of the powerful-looking orcs to be the vanguard. They will keep whatever enemy inside this place busy while we damage it from the backlines. Leah will protect me from sneak attacks. The little Imp will also be with us in the back lines. As an illusion based monster, his skills would be more useful as support. I had come across many Imps and Dream Weavers during my career as an adventurer. But I have never seen a monster as intelligent as him.

I decided to keep an eye out for it since I didn’t know how strong it was.

The massive metallic door slowly opened with the combined efforts of several powerful-looking orcs. A chilly wind blew past us. My countenance changed as I winded my eyes. I had a kin sense towards killing intent due to our line of work.

“Sis, did you feel it as well?” Leah also sensed the uniqueness of this chilly wind. As a warrior, her senses were even sharper than mine regarding these matters. I nodded at her, and reminded myself to remain cautious. Leah was also thinking about the same thing. I could tell from her face.

“Killing intent, huh!” I answered while looking at the dark interior. There was no light present inside to give us a visual. And for some reason, the light from outside didn’t go in. Even though we opened the doors wide, we still couldn’t see a single meter inside.

“It's not just killing intent. I sense thick bloodlust too.” I was a little surprised at this. Killing intent was one thing, but bloodlust was something grave. Anyone can let out killing intent if they really had a desire to kill. But bloodlust was something born from someone who had already killed many and relished in the feeling of it.

A monster having bloodlust was normal as it had taken countless lives and will continue to do so as long as it was alive. And this thing inside this place was no different. It had taken way too many lives to form this killing intent and bloodlust.

“Leah, be careful.” I reminded her before readying all my defensive charms. I wouldn’t have dared to enter this room if we hadn’t bought them before coming here. Whatever residing inside this place, it was by no means an ordinary monster.

A few orcs stepped inside first. Just then, purple lights started to shine within the dark hall, illuminating it for everyone to see. On a closer look, I saw those lights were coming small stones handing from the ceiling. These stones harnessed by a kind of crystal-like chain connecting to the end. But that’s not all. Now that the insides illuminated, I could now see the so-called boss.

“As expected, it’s a Hobgoblin!” I exclaimed after having a good look at the thing standing in the middle of the giant hall.

“Eh! That’s a hobgoblin? It doesn’t look any different than a normal goblin!” Leah was doubtful. It seems like she had never seen a hobgoblin before. That’s maybe the case as goblins were very rare in these parts of the continent.

Cloud Meadow town was closest to the border between Vale and Aseavell Empire. The forest around it cut down to prevent someone from the neighboring empire to sneak in. Without the dense forest, goblins couldn’t live. No wonder, she had never seen a hobgoblin before.

“Don’t be fooled by its appearance. Its strength wasn’t something to be underestimated.” I reminded Leah again. This girl had the habit of judging a book by its covers. Such a mentality would bring trouble to both herself and her partners. As a C-ranked adventurer, it would be impossible for me to defeat a dungeon boss. But, I wasn’t alone in this fight.

If we meet this monster outside a dungeon, it would be very easy to defeat it with just me and Leah. But as a hidden boss, it was far stronger than those roaming outside.

There was something I could never understand about the dungeons. It was a fact that something with a title Boss inside a dungeon was stronger than similar monsters outside. Not only their attacks were buffed, but also it takes quite an effort to kill them. The only saving grace was that these monsters lack a higher form of intelligence. Also, they follow a fixed way of attacking. Even a dumb adventurer could get used to them after watching for a while.

Why was that so? It’s a mystery, as the origin of the dungeon itself.

The reason why these dungeons built was not known. Nor did anyone know who made them. Its functionality that resembled a ‘trap’ sparked many controversies among the intellectual groups.

[Intruders! You shall not pass through here.]

Suddenly the hobgoblin started to speak fluently in humanspeak. Then it glared at us and raised its right hand towards the ceiling of the hall.

“Sis! It just spoke!!” Leah was pretty spooked by it.

“Don’t worry. It can only speak those few words.” I replied while waving my hands.

“Is it a common thing?” Leah further enquired while pulling the sword out of its sheathe and falling into a defensive stance.

“Yeah.” I nodded and also pulled out my own weapon, the Green Vine wand.

The little Imp looked at me with an expression so humane that it was unbelievable. It was standing a little ahead, with its back facing towards us. I was surprised once again at the level of trust. Imps were timid by nature and would rarely ever come out of their comfort zones. I couldn’t help but get interested in this Imp even more. I wanted to know why was this Imp was so different from the rest.

[I shall be your executioner. Prepare to die, fools!!]

The hobgoblin’s roar pulled me out of my thoughts. Shaking my head to clear of all distracting thoughts, I reminded myself once again to focus on the task at hand. “Leah, be careful of its sneak attacks. Bosses like them had a few of those at their disposal.”

“Okay, I got it. I will be careful about it.” Leah gave me a thumbs up. She was taking all this pretty seriously. Suddenly I remembered something and looked at Leah, “Say, Leah. If we kill this thing and present it in the guild, wouldn’t you get your promotion?” Due to the tragedy last time, Leah failed her advance test. The penalty for it was that she would forever remain as a D-ranked as long as she was in Cloud Medow Town.

I was ready to persuade her to take the test in some other town, but given her personality, she wouldn’t agree. She would rather be a low ranked adventurer in this town than take the exam somewhere else. This monster, however, gave us an opportunity. Not only to Leah, but for me as well.

“Really? Will that work, sis?” I could tell that Leah was moved by what I planned.

“Yeah. But for now, focus on the battle.” I pointed my wand towards the huge two-meter tall hobgoblin. It had a pointy elongated nose, bald head, and hands long enough to reach its knees. Its body was lean and filled with defined muscles. Not only that, but I could also see defined skull-like marking all over its body.

I know the reason behind those marks. It only appears on the body of those who had broken a taboo. Judging from the number of skulls on its chest, it had broken quite a few taboos. This world was quite unforgiving with those who break its taboos.

[I will kill you all!]

And then the battle has begun.