Chapter 43: To Protect (1)

I was so busy with the experiment that I forgot about Logier, who was waiting for me outside. Some time ago, he came to me bearing a piece of troubling news. But I was busy at that time. Therefore, I asked him to wait for me. After finishing what I was doing, I allowed him in and asked about the news he brought.

“Human fighters are here.”

I stopped whatever I was doing and looked at Logier in the eye. Unconsciously my hands twitched as I processed what he just said. My run-in with goblin lord had shaved away the last bit of naïvity I had. Compared to before, I was no longer excited to meet humans. And the warriors were the last ones I wanted to meet.

Fighters were those who come to dungeon to challenge the monsters residing inside. After defeating and killing them, they would take the carcass out to do god knows what. Logier knew this much only. However, I knew the rest. From the brief introduction about monsters given to us by that bastard king’s men, monster parts were a treasure trove. After killing the monsters, the killer would then collect the carcass to be dismantled by an expert in the field.

Human fighters were here means they wanted to kill. It was a troublesome problem, indeed. Unlike the goblin lord’s army, humans were both strong as well as smart. They were the worse kind of enemy Logier, and his band of orcs could hope to fight.

“How many humans are there?” I asked, trying to figure out my opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

“Five humans. They are also wearing powerful armors.” Logier had seen many human fighters throughout his life. With just a glance, he could tell whether they were strong or not. Moreover, his guess about the strength of the armors was spot on, which I would discover not long after this conversation.

By now, I had learned to trust Logier’s judgment on certain things. No matter what, he was a monster of this world and encountered many things that I wasn’t. Even while dealing with the goblin lord, his judgment had helped me a lot.

“What are they doing?”

“They are just standing there, not doing anything at all.”

I started thinking about how to deal with this. Dealing with humans from the perspective of a monster was a headache-inducing matter. And I held no illusion that it could be solved peacefully. After thinking about it a lot, I decided to see them with my own eyes first before coming into a decision.

“Ask every orcs and goblin to hide. No one is to show themselves to them unprovoked.” Meanwhile, I gave this order. Perhaps, there was a part of me that didn’t want to fight with humans, which affected my decision-making ability. I still hesitated to go all out against them.

Logier quickly spread my order among both communities. Within minutes, every orc and goblins hidden skilfully among the densely populated trees. Goblins were a little better at it since it was their natural habitat. Orcs followed their lead and were able to hide as well.

As for me, I strapped a pole equipped with a poison needle to my back and equipped the waistband that goblin lord used to hang his potions. On it, I hung three potion bottles with all of them containing the same purple deadly liquid. From the goblin lord’s note, this purple liquid contained highly aggressive flesh-eating microbes. They will come in handy while dealing with humans.

Before going out, I stood in a slightly darker shade. The wait was for my passive to activate and make me invisible. Only then did I proceed. Logier told me that they were still at the outer periphery, seemingly waiting for something. I have to be extremely careful as my opponent this time were trained humans.

After passing through the forest and going into the darkness of the corridor, my figure simmered into the background. I became even more impossible to detect if not searched actively. In the shadows, I was in my comfort zone. Moreover, my passive Shadow Meld not only makes me hard to detect but also increases my agility. In other words, even if I got discovered somehow, I can easily escape.

Leave nothing to luck was my life’s motto ever since I was killed in that gloomy dungeon. I was extremely meticulous and careful about everything. I was afraid of making even tiniest of mistakes. Arriving at the front of the tunnel that led to the forest, I saw five well-armored people standing near the gate. Their appearance brought out a very hated memory from the deepest corners of my memory bank.

That man also wore a similar outfit. That abominable piece of shit who regarded human life as dirt, he too wore a golden set like this blond man who stood out from the rest. If not for my self-control, I would have already hurled a bottle of flesh-eating potion towards them. That day, I realized just how much I underestimated my own hatred towards that king and his henchmen. Even a blond lookalike could compel me to lose control like that.

I thought it would take some time before I could make my mind about killing humans. After all, it was a necessary step for my quest to revenge. Even my survival in this world depends on it. But, from the looks of it, that wasn’t the case.

After calming myself down enough to have a clear head, I lied in wait to see what these guys were after. Somehow, their presence felt weird to me. They didn’t look like they were here to kill monsters. Whatever it may be, I decided to be careful just in case.

Suddenly I heard a bit of commotion. Two of the armored men started talking with the blond man who was sitting on the ground and reading a book.

“Sire, I was just thinking, while we are waiting for the third prince, how about us two go and unwind a bit inside? I have heard this first floor was filled with goblins. Although they are weak, it was still better than waiting here and doing nothing.” One of the armored knights asked giddily. I saw his hands twitching as it hovered over his sheathed sword every so often. In my hidden place, my eyes narrowed.

If it was before the death of goblin lord, I wouldn’t have minded them going there and wreaking havoc. However, now the situation had changed. Orcs and goblins somehow learned to coexist even without my interference. Perhaps it was something to do with both Logier and Urt being my subordinates, making both the races set aside their differences and live together. Nonetheless, I was happy that no wars were going to happen anytime soon between them.

“Hmm! Okay. You can go. We are supposed to meet them ‘coincidentally’ anyway.” The blond man waved his arms, permitting them to do whatever they liked. My heart sank when I saw those two guys coming towards me… to be more precise, coming towards the tunnel. Their intention was no doubt killing goblins.

I backed away skilfully, mindful of not attracting their attention. Even then, one of them seemed to have discovered something was amiss.

He stopped and did the same to his partner. “What is it?” Not knowing why he was stopped, the other armored knight asked suspiciously.

“Careful. I just smelled a presence.”

I shook involuntarily. Even with my passive activated, I was still detected somehow. I made a mental note about this man who seemed to have ‘smelled’ me. He was labled as tracker for the time being before I was sure of his other skills.

Meanwhile, I was contemplating on whether I should make a preemptive attack while I was still hidden from their sight. I was sure my Nightmare Manifest would work wonders on them. There was not much to think as I made my decision almost instantly. Perhaps their resemblance to my hated enemy made it easier for me to settle my heart, I was ready to attack.

Activating my Infrared Vision first, I observed their physical profile. Since I could see magic, I wanted to see just how powerful these guys were. Cathie and Leah would be my scale for measurement. I have observed both of them in great detail and made some notes too.

Cathie’s body contained free-flowing magic. Despite being as dense as mercury, it flowed freely. On the other hand, Leah’s magic had vitality mixed in it. Not only it made the magic in her body seem diluted, but It also affected its flowing speed. In conclusion, despite denser, the magic in Cathie’s body flowed freely. On the other hand, it was opposite in the case of Leah.

After activating the skill when I looked at them, I saw dense yellow with red outlined energy flowing almost lethargically throughout their body. Moreover, it was present everywhere. Whether it's me or Cathie, the source of origin lied in our hearts. When we use a skill, the magic would start to flow from there.

But that wasn’t the case for Leah. Magic, mixed with vitality, was present everywhere in her body. When she used her abilities, only the related part’s magic would be consumed. It was so different from us. And these two guys had the same kind of energy as Leah. If I remembered it correctly, it was called Chi by her. However, they looked stronger than Leah.

Nonetheless, I heaved a sigh of relief after realizing that they weren’t dreaded magicians. I had first hand experienced how powerful and deadly a magician can be after watching Cathie in action.