Chapter 6: A farmer’s life 6

I was now in Versailles continent and have already entered the Rosenhiem Kingdom’s territory. The trip from Vermillion to Versailles only took an amazing 20 hours of flight! What was more amazing was the fact that I survived it! If you wanna know what’s it like then just imagine flying on a plane, only, you’re not inside the safety of the plane but tied outside hanging for dear life. Rak-ahn also likes to fly high, so high that there’s almost no oxygen left to breath and so fast that the winds even started tearing my HP. The stupid bird only slowed down once we entered Rosenhiem so we can pinpoint the location of the blinking dot in my map.

“There Rak-ahn, land over there, near that village” I saw a village exactly where the blinking dot is, so the missing piece is most likely near there.

Looking at the place, Rak-ahn suddenly made a nosedive straight to the ground. I didn’t even have time to scream since I was too busy holding on to the support ropes on Rak-ahn’s back. Rak-ahn stopped just before hitting the ground and landed softly. I didn’t waste a second getting off his back and onto solid ground. I can see the stupid bird smirk so it’s pretty obvious he did it on purpose.

“Hyumen, how long will this endeavor of yours take? The Elder said it might take a while but, you better hope it does not, otherwise I will leave you here”

“haaaaaaa……..I don’t know, besides, shouldn’t you beast people know more about this than me?” what an impatiently arrogant bird. He already ate the payment so he doesn’t have any right to complain

“*Tsk* why did I even bother to hope that a puny hyumen would be able to accomplish this. Take this, use it to call me once you are ready to leave. I will try to hunt on the oceans outside this continent”

*Ding*

Obtained Item!

Rak’s Horn (Special)

“Hmm? Why would you need to hunt so far away? Unlike Vermillion, this place should be filled with things you can easily hunt”

“……………The reason is quite simple. We cannot hunt in this continent hyumen. All the prey inside Versailles is poison to us”

“Eh? But I gave meat to Dug-ahn before and he seemed fine when I saw him again…” what the bird said now really doesn’t make any sense

“Haaaaaaa…..if it was “people” from this continent who hunted the meat then it is fine for us to eat it. But if we hunt and kill creatures on this continent then it will become deadly poison for us. Also……” Rak-ahn then proceeded to tell me other details that I didn’t know

It seems that the “Gods” of Versailles have created a barrier to close the boundary between this place and Vermillion. It was only recently that the barrier was weakened, and so travel became possible. It seems the main reason for the barrier is to stop the Calamity Ants from reaching Versailles continent. This makes perfect sense since those ants will kill and eat non-stop if they reach this place. The barrier is also responsible for the “poisoning” that occurs, though this was meant for ants but it seems it can’t differentiate between species so it just poisons everyone from Vermillion. I also found out that this barrier is somehow responsible for stopping the transport of food between the two continents. It seems that several times in the past, other players tried to transport large quantities of food to Vermillion to win over the locals but nearly 90% of the food rotted the moment they reach Vermillion. Once it was confirmed, they instantly stop since the loss is too big.

“I see….I guess there’s no other way…I’ll be seeing you once this quest is over then” Rak-ahn must have gone to Vermillion several times already to hunt but found out that it was useless

“Hmph….Finish this quickly hyumen or give up early….do not make me wait long….” Rak-ahn flies off soon after saying these impossible things

“I wish…..it’ll be nice if I could finish this at all….failing is also out of the question since it’ll be ultra bad for me if I fail…haaaaaaa…” After sighing once again….I head first to the village.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to Spring Village! This village has been set as your temporary base!

I see a sudden pop-up message in front of me. This didn’t happen when I went to Lipton so maybe it appears to players that have Vermillion continent as they’re saved base before. Spring village is a pretty small but lively place with several stalls here and there. I also see several players around which are obviously new to Royal Road. This was the first “human” village I’ve ever seen so the first thing I did was……buy skewered barbecue from an auntie! It can’t be helped since it smelled so good and that I’ve barely eaten any meat on Vermillion. I bought 5 sticks worth a measly 2g each and left the stand. I walked around the village while eating and asking around if anyone knows about the missing piece of the stick. I ended up with zero leads mainly because when they asked what it looked like, I replied that “I don’t know” which resulted in them saying “are you stupid?”

“This was the expected result anyways…that leaves me with only one option left…” actually it was my only option from the start.

I‘ll need to use the Torthose necklace. The Elder told me to just hold necklace in my hand and clearly think of the missing piece. It won’t matter if I don’t know what it looks like because the knowledge of past Elders is inside the necklace. After a few seconds of shouting “MISSING PIECE” in my mind, the necklace finally started emitting light straight towards the missing piece.

“Maybe this isn’t as hard as I thought” I finish my last barbecue and headed to where the light is pointing at.

After 30 minutes of walking southeast of the village, I reached a dense forest. After weeks of seeing nothing but earth and rocks, the large trees of this forest almost made me want to kiss them. I refrain from doing that of course since it’ll be too weird. It seems the light is leading me into the forest so I entered it while using the Black stick as a walking stick. It wasn’t long until I encounter my first monster in the forest. It wasn’t a fox, a deer or even a wolf but a group of goblins. I quickly activated stalking and monitored the goblin group. From asking around the village, I found out that the supposedly highest level of monsters in the area is 50. This goblin group that seems to have just finished hunting a bear are between levels 40-50. The thing that worries me is the 3 stars in their names. Versailles should have very few V3 monsters and they’re supposed to be monsters lvl 500 or more. This was to ensure that new players can grow without worries but this fact has just been proven wrong

“Damn….when will this goblins leave? I can’t move on until I’m sure they’re going the opposite direction…….Oh? About time….” 2 goblins started to carry the dead bear while the others became guards

I was waiting patiently for them to go but when they did, another problem presented itself. They were heading for the same direction as the light is pointing at. I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this. I stalk the goblins for a while and I was starting to get worried since the light is getting fainter and fainter, meaning the 1 hour limit is near. I continue stalking the group until we reach a clearing and my bad feeling is finally given form. There was an army of goblins in the clearing. I was dumbfounded with what I’m seeing. There were goblin warriors and even hobgoblins in the mix. I start counting them and the numbers just filled me with dread. There are 70 goblins at lvl 40-50, 44 lvl 55-70 goblin warriors and 20 hobgoblins at lvl 80-90, every single one are V3 monsters as well. The faint light is pointing further away from the goblin army and into the cave that I didn’t notice before. It was clear that I can’t beat this many goblins so I decided to sneak inside the cave the first chance I get. I was thinking that this was a good idea until something came out of the cave.

“The hell………you gotta be kidding me” If this was a joke then it damn sure wasn’t funny.

Another monster came out of the cave just as the light from my necklace disappears. But before it disappeared, I was certain, it was pointing at the chest of the monster that came out. On the monsters chest, hanging like a necklace was a black object that has the same color as the black stick. Just the color alone confirms that it’s the missing piece; the only problem was the monster itself.

“Why couldn’t it have been tied to the neck of a rabbit? Heck even a wolf or a bear would have been a blessing….” Sadly reality has never been kind to me….It’s identity was known after looking at it intently for a few seconds.

BOSS MONSTER: ★★★★ GOBLIN LORD “DACRULE” Lv. ???

A named boss monster and it just gets worse. A V4 that’s in an area that’s supposed to be for beginners. I can’t even see its level so the gap between our levels is definitely over 100. Sneaking in and taking it is no longer an option but there’s no way I can hope to kill that boss. It even has a large group of goblins as its underlings. I carefully leave the area and head to an open plain again. Since there’s no way I can beat it, I’ll just ask someone who can. Wiping out a bunch of goblin should be pretty easy for Rak-ahn. He’ll also be glad to finish this job with the utmost speed

~~~~~~~~~~~

“HaaaaaaFuuuuuu” I filled my lungs with air and blew it all at the horn Rak-ahn gave me

*TOOOOOOOOOONNUUUUNNNNNNNNN!*

You’ve used Rak’s horn

It didn’t take long for Rak-ahn to arrive and the first thing he said when he landed was “Hyumen if you blow that horn that loudly again, I will kill you”. Right…next time I’ll fill my lungs with just half the air. Anyway I told Rak-ahn that I found the missing piece, which he commented with “Oh~ not bad for a puny hyumen”. I then told him that there was a little problem so I would like his help to quickly finish the quest. After I told him about the goblins and the goblin lord the stupid bird just said….

“So? Why should I, Rak-ahn, need to deal with puny vermin just because you cannot, puny hyumen?” The stupid bird proudly says this but I already expected it so I was prepared to pay for his services

“I didn’t forget that you are the GREAT RAK-ahn, so if you could please help me then I would gladly repay your efforts with meat so juicy that you will not forget its taste for a long time” Yep, I’ll feed the annoying bird with barbecued meat. Its taste was awesome so I know this greedy bird will like it. Just the sound of meat was enough to make the bird think deeply of my offer

“………………………”

“……………………...” He’s thinking about this quite a bit but since I can’t rush, I just waited silently

“…………………..hyumen, your offer is tempting but I cannot accept it. This is your task and you must do it by yourself”

“Eh? What do you mean? The Elder even said that she would’ve sent Lep-ahn with me if you’re willing to carry him or any other warrior” This wasn’t the answer I was expecting from the greedy bird

“*Snort* The Elder has her standards and I have mine. Also you best not trust that bloody beast too much since he is…….…just consider it an advice. Call me once you have finally given up hyumen” and with that Rak-ahn left once again

All I could do now was watch the stupid bird disappear in the distance. I was so sure that greedy bird would have taken any deal so long as meat is the payment. What does that stupid bird even mean by “his standards” and he even said some stuff about not to trust Lep-ahn….haaaaaaaa……I can’t do anything now but return to the village.

While walking back, I formulated another plan of action. Of course, it involves with me not doing any heroics so long as I can help it. This plan is simple as well. Since I can’t count on that birdbrain then I’ll just tell the village chief about the goblin army in the forest. The chief will be so shocked that he’ll immediately inform the Lord of this area so that they could send a punitive force to wipe the goblins out. I’ll just happen to “pass” by the area once the fighting’s over and ask to buy a seemingly worthless black metal-like object that the boss drops. It looked absolutely worthless so I’ll pretend to haggle until the price somehow reach 1000 gold which I’m sure they’ll accept since they’ll think I got tricked. The only downside to this is if the boss doesn’t drop the missing piece once it’s dead since it’s a quest item for me. Well if that happens then it happens….you can’t expect a farmer to kill a V4 boss anyway

*Stare* (……………hmmmm) *smirk*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I got back to Spring village, I quickly ask around for the house of the village chief. I was told that it was the largest cottage in the area so I spot it rather easily. After knocking at his door a few times, the Chief finally opens the door and asks who I was and what I need from him. I told him that it was an emergency so the Chief invited me inside his cottage. I then dramatically told the Chief about the goblin army I saw in a forest nearby. I perfectly show him my shock and fear which I did rather easily for some reason. At the end, I specifically told him that we must send word to the Lord so that a punitive force can be sent. I was half expecting him to rush out in a panic but what he said betrayed my expectation, once again

“I see…..so you saw those goblins as well…..” is all he said

“Um…Chief, you already know about the goblins? If so why haven’t you told the lord yet? We should do so before the goblins attack the village!” since the Chief of the village already knows about it then he won’t need to question its authenticity

“Haaaaaaa……young man, I appreciate your concern but there’s nothing much we can do anymore. I’ve already reported this to Count James, the lord of this area and he already sent a punitive force 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately they said that “Red Lightning” suddenly hit the punitive force and was wiped out. Since then several groups have tried but they all got hit by this lightning as well as such no-one has been able to enter the Pine Forest anymore”

What the heck?! They got hit by red lightning and died? But no such thing happened when I entered that forest. The punitive force is gone and no other players even dare go in that forest! so how am I supposed to get this missing piece now? No, first of all, the village Chief said the punitive force was sent 2 weeks ago and it failed miserably so how come this village is still safe?

“Chief…you said the punitive force was already wiped out…so how come this village is still safe? Also when was it that you first saw those goblins?” Those goblins are V3 monsters so attacking a village like this should be simple for them

“The thing is…..it seems that red lightning also prevents those goblins from coming out of Pine forest, for that alone we’re able to sleep in peace here. As for when we first saw them……..maybe it was about a month ago now”

After hearing this, I thanked the chief for his time and left. It seems those goblins have been here for a month now and they can’t leave the forest because of this “red lightning”. But that also prevents others from clearing the goblins away….also why didn’t I get hit by this red lightning….thinking about this…I once again pass the auntie selling the barbecue so I bought another 2 sticks……anyways….there’s only one conclusion I could get. The Black stick is the key to all this. I was using it as a walking stick when I entered the forest so it was probably the reason I didn’t get hit by lightning. But what doesn’t make sense is the time difference between when I got the stick and when the goblins first appeared. Also what’s with the lightning? .............haaaaaaaaaa………..too many questions and I got zero answer to any of them……..since I can’t expect any help, I have no choice but to do it myself…. I’ll lure one of the goblins to try and fight it to test the waters first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I head back to “Pine” forest since there's a bit of daylight left. I wouldn’t even bother trying this at night since monsters get way stronger at night. This was true on both here and Vermillion. I activate stalking and stalk tree after tree while heading to the clearing that I saw. Reaching the place I see that there aren’t any goblins left in the area. I thought about entering the cave but since that was practically suicide, I decided against it. I tried searching the forest instead and if I didn’t see any goblin today then I’ll just start again tomorrow. As luck would have it, I found another group of goblins there were seven on this group as well. I stalk them for some time until a chance suddenly presented itself. The group spotted a fox which ran as soon as it spotted them, the goblins of course decided to give chase. It’s common to see the stronger ones ran faster than the rest so naturally there will be one that will move last. I quickly throw a rock to get the goblin’s attention before it ran after the rest. The goblin being a goblin naturaly turned back to look at what hit it. I showed myself for a bit and carefully pretend to ran away while looking back to see if the goblin decides to follow

“Kiiiiiiii! Huuuuumaaann!!!! I is lucky!!!! Gob lord be happy!” It was finally the expected result and I see the goblin happily chasing after me. I was a bit worried that the other goblins might’ve heard his loud screech but after a while, I see no other goblin so I relaxed and continue my plan.

“Alright….that ugly thing is following me as planned…I’m also already wearing my best gear so all I need to do is just fight it for a bit and ran away before I get killed” Once I was far enough from the other goblins, I decided to try and fight it.

“Kiiii! So huMan stop! caugHT now! Kikikiki be good huMan so I kill quickly! Kikiki” it seems the goblin thinks he caught me already.

I was wearing lvl 30 Leather items, from armor to boots so defense is as good as I can hope it to be. The only problem is my weapon….on my hand is the Black stick. Its attack power is pretty decent for my level but I’ve never tested it in a fight before, scratch that…I’ve never been in a proper fight before. I also have no combat skills I can use……………..haaaaaa……………I guess there’s a first for everything…..

“Kiiii? You go fight huMan? Kikikiki you huMans alwayS do thiS kikikki” the goblin was getting more excited now and quickly readies his bone club

“Fuuuu……the one who makes the first move…..WINS! HAAAAAAAAAA!! “I decided not to bother with what the goblin is trying to say and with a loud shout, I charged at the goblin

The goblin isn’t moving from where it’s standing even after it saw me charge at it. Well that suits me just fine since I can concentrate on my attack. Since his bone club was on its left hand, I aimed at its left shoulder. The goblin didn’t even try to defend itself and just took the blow. I quickly realize why it didn’t dodge. It’s because it didn’t have to. I only manage to drop its HP by 2% and I even gave it my all. While I was shocked, the goblin didn’t miss its chance to attack. I didn’t manage to block so the blow hit me full on the right side of my body and got blown a few steps back

“Holy shit! What the heck kind of damage was that!” I was shocked by how little damaged I did but seeing the damage I got made me shiver. Looking at my Hp bar, I saw that I just lost 35% hp.

“Kikikikkikikikikiki”

“I won’t even survive 3 direct hits! Shit! I’ve had enough, time to run!” I quickly turn around to make a run for it. From the chase earlier, I was pretty sure that the goblin isn’t faster than me so I should be able to escape.

“kikikikiki where goIng huMan? Kikiki we still plaYing!” suddenly, unlike its speed before, the goblin somehow got in front of me in an instant and swung it’s bone club right at me!

“Wha?!” I manage to block the attack with the Black stick but I still lost 5% Hp. I don’t get how the goblin managed that at all. While I was checking my Hp again, I saw something at the side of the Hp bar that I didn’t notice before so I quickly check it.

You are in pursuit!

One of the Version 3 monster’s unique trait. As long as the monster with *Pursuit* has you on its sight, it will continually gain speed until it surpasses its target or until it runs out of stamina. Undead monsters will continue to pursue you since they’re stamina is unlimited.

“WHAT THE FU**! It gains speed until it surpasses its target?! Shit!”

“Kikikikiki playTime oVer? Then Time die huMan…kikikikiki” it seems the goblin is done playing so there’s no escaping death anymore.

The goblin then resumed its assault against me. I can barely defend myself with just a stick so my Hp was dropping steadily. On a last ditch effort, I used all my strength to bash it’s head when I saw an opening but even that only manage to take 8% of its Hp. It also made the goblin angry and made it go on a rampage. I didn’t even last 5 minutes until……

You have died

And the world of Royal Road disappears.

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“ShiiiiiIIttttt!!!!!.........haaaaaaaa.....man that was crazy…how the hell could I know that V3 mobs got unique traits?” I sluggishly get out of the VR capsule since I barely got out from it mainly because of the flight towards Versailles

“No…that’s not right….Vermillion is a place that’s filled with V3 monsters so I should’ve researched about them right from the start”

This was true. I’ve been living in Vermillion for a while now so I should have made that a priority. But it’s also true that fighting monsters was the last thing I would have expected to do since I decided to be a farmer. All my time has also been invested to trying to farm that barren land….haaaaaaaa

“Should I just ask “him” for help? But if I did….I would have to tell “him” I’ve been playing for a month…” This was a problem since I vehemently told “him” that I wasn’t playing Royal Road at all…

Since asking “him” for help would be the last of the last resort. I’ll just do the best thing to do at this point. Eat and sleep. I’ve been playing for over 11 hours without many breaks so I’m spent. I just did the necessary things before I went to sleep. It was early morning when I woke up but looking at the clock, I see that I still needed to wait for 14 more hours before I can log-in

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After eating breakfast, I decided to gather info on the net. First was about the goblins in Rosenhiem Kingdom. Sadly, there was no info since the players got killed by “red lightning” even before they can fight. I then looked for all the information on monsters.

Monsters with no stars are considered Version 1 or V1 mobs.

They are the standard monsters that players will fight. They have no added bonus so they’re easy to deal with

Two star monsters are considered Version 2 or V2 mobs

These monsters will have 30% increase on their stats and 50% Hp bonus. They have 1 unique trait and higher intelligence. They give 30% more exp

Three star monsters are considered Version 3 or V3 mobs

These monsters will have 50% increase on stats and 100% Hp bonus. They can have up to 2 unique traits with higher intelligence and better group coordination. They give 40% more exp

Four star monsters are considered Version 4 or V4 mobs

These monsters will have 70% increase on stats and 150% Hp bonus. They can have up to 3 unique traits and high enough intelligence to lead large groups of monsters and other special abilities. They give 50% more exp plus 20% rare item drop rate

Five star monsters are considered Version 5 or V5 mobs

These monsters will have 100% increase on stats and 200% Hp bonus. They can have up to 4 unique traits with high intelligence and enhanced abilities. They also have special racial abilities. They give 50% more exp plus 50% rare item drop rate.

Now I understand why I did such a crappy damage on that goblin. That one was only level 40, the weakest one on the group yet it killed me so easily. I also looked up the monsters unique traits. Those traits seem to range from simple “hiding” to the troublesome “Pursuit”. There are also traits like “Combo” which adds more and more power and speed to a monsters attack so long as they land and “haunt” that activates when the monster is killed and puts a de-buff on you. I spend several hours learning these traits and trying to remember them. I also read some things about “Phantom” and “Grand” types of monsters but they sound sketchy with seemingly made up stories about them so I didn’t focus on it too much.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I read all the info I could possibly find about monsters but unfortunately it didn’t help me find a way to deal with the goblins. I even thought of begging Rak-ahn but that “red lightning” needs to be put into proper consideration. Since it already wiped out loads of people, I can be sure that it exists. The question now is, if Rak-ahn did decide to help, will he also be protected by the stick? Most likely not, and this makes asking for help very difficult….haaaaaaaaaaa……I can’t think of anything anymore…..

“T.V on, Prehistoric channel”

Since I couldn’t think of anything, I decided to watch T.V. instead. This channel was one of my favorites and it’s not because of any old “western” movies. My favorite would have to be the “old style” martial arts films, mainly about a guy named Bruc* Le*who’s my idol! Unfortunately, the shows on this channel are pretty random so it’s hard to watch what you want. What’s showing right now was a an old movie called Star Cars: Cloned Tires. This seemed like a pretty generic “animated” movie but since I have a lot of time left, I decided to watch the movie. It was mainly about a top racing car whose key to victory was his tires. But a rival car finds out his secret and clones his tires then sold it for tons of oil which made him rich beyond his dream. I first thought it was just a boring movie but the ending was pretty intense, the former top car ended up racing against other cars with cloned tires and near the end all their tires suddenly caught fire but he still finished the race with only his rims while the others just cried. It ended with him saying “It’s all about what’s inside and that’s what decides a winner!” He then pops the hood and inside are hundreds of hamsters which made the story quite interesting.

“Hoh~ that was better than I expected” Well it manages to kill quite a lot of time so I was satisfied. I was about to change channels when the commercial started

The commercial itself was about how to kill rats the old fashioned way. This was basically just poisoning their food. It reminded me of how I dealt with the needle haired mole rats. This gave me an idea but it seems it won’t work out since there are clear problems. First was the fact that the goblins take back the food they find and most likely eat inside the cave. Second, there are several groups of goblins that find food. It’s technically impossible to poison all the food supplies so there will be several goblins that won’t be poisoned. And lastly was the fact that if they realise someone poisoned their food, then they’ll be on guard and probably won’t fall for the same trick again. It was a good idea but there are too many problems…..haaaaaaaaa

“Channel change, KMC games channel”

It seems there are several competitions going on KMC channel. There were contests about who are the best blacksmith, best tailor and even best “new” sculptor. At the very end of the program was a contest about who’s the top chef on Versailles. The winner of the showdown said this and that but one of the things she said grabbed my attention. I finally found a way to somehow finish this hard quest and all it took was to watch a seemingly generic “animated” movie a commercial and finally a cooking showdown. Now I just need to wait until I can log back in to Royal Road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I quickly log-in the moment the 24-hour ban after dying passed. I revived inside Spring village so I headed to my target, the auntie selling skewered meat. I headed over to her because I needed to learn the cooking skill, specifically the skill to make great barbecued meat. She naturally refused to teach me the skill but I manage to change her mind after buying 500g worth of barbecues. After buying so much, she was more than happy to teach me. I just practiced barbecuing a few skewered meats to learn the skill. I burned several skewers to charcoal which I had to pay but in the end I succeeded.

*Ding*

You have learned the Cooking Skill!

After learning the skill I quickly head out to an open field to call Rak-ahn. I gently blow on Rak’s horn and waited for Rak-ahn to show himself. It took him a few minutes to arrive and he looks pissed. I kinda expected it already so I came prepared. He quickly asks if I have given up already which I naturally answered with a no. He nearly attacked me but I manage to stop him with my secret weapon, the barbecued meat that I bought. I gave him 100 sticks and asked him to wait a few more days. He gobbled up the 100 barbecue stick and all and said he’ll only wait 5 more days then flew off once again.

“Whew…so I have 5 extra days now….I still have 150 sticks but I need those for something else…worst case I’ll have to use all the remaining 3700 gold I have….haaaaaaaa” This can’t be helped so I need to move quickly so I leave for my target area

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn’t head for Pine forest but to the surrounding field that was filled with rabbits and foxes. I quickly spot a fox and stalk it. After I was sure of the area it frequents, I then started to test my plan. I take out a stick of barbecue sprinkle it with the White Powder. This White Powder seems to be made by crushing seeds of various plants and then drying it in the sun for several weeks until it loses all color and turn white. It can only be made during the time of “plenty” so it’s actually very valuable, but Lep-ahn just gave me a jar full of it…..I’ve been given a lot of things by the people in Darsheen village so I really don’t want to fail this quest….anyways the reason I’m doing this is because I want to know how effective the White Powder is on monsters here in Versailles. This is pretty important because from what Rak-ahn said, it seems the barrier affects not only items going in but also those going out of Vermillion. The barrier only affects food related items though. White Powder needs to enter the body so I assumed it’s “Food Related” so I have to test it out.

I put the barbecue stick on a spot where the fox is sure to spot it and then I hid myself. It didn’t take long for the fox to appear and eat the barbecued meat. After ten seconds, I was afraid that the White Powder lost its effects until the fox suddenly stopped and drop to the ground. It appears that it lost some of its potency or maybe it’s because the fox was bigger than a mole rat? Since I needed to make sure, I decided to test it on bigger prey. Of course I killed the fox to take its fur and meat. Since there are two ways to collect meat: Manual and Auto, I chose auto since I have no idea how to do it manually. After a couple more hours, I manage to test the White Powder on several wolves and even a Bear that I found and stalked. The results revealed that the White Powder didn’t lose any potency at all; it’s just that you need to put a bit more if your target is bigger. I was pretty happy with the result since I also got a bunch more of meat that I could use to level my Cooking Skill and won’t have to worry about losing money feeding the greedy bird. With the tests over, I proceeded to the second phase of the plan.

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There are several things I needed to do in the second phase of my plan. The first thing I needed to do was to stalk all the goblin groups that are collecting food and figure out the path they regularly use. This was pretty risky even with the stalking skill. It took 8 days of persistently stalking the goblins to get all the information I need. There are 7 goblin hunting groups in total with 7 goblins in each group. The 21 remaining seems to be used as reserve hunters. I also found the route and hunting areas they regularly use. I even manage to find out what their unique traits are. These goblins seem to have 2 traits, Pursuit and Group Effort. Unique traits are really scary because they can just be things monsters usually do but heightened to a shocking degree. I was also levelling my Cooking skill when I have the chance. My Cooking skill is now basic levl: 6 while Stalking and Pathfinding are now both basic lvl: 9. My level also reached 42 since I was hunting Bears which are at lvl 45-50 and lots of wolves for their meat. My Trapping skill also hit basic lvl: 8 since I was making pitfalls as traps for the wolves and bears instead of using the valuable White Powder. I was also browsing the web when I was offline to learn that extra edge I need in cooking while also testing it out in real life. With everything prepared, I can now start phase three, A.K.A Goblin Eradication!

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I decided to start phase 3 four days after I finished gathering data on the goblins. I head to Pine Forest early in the morning so that I could prepare properly. My first goblin group target is also already been decided. After reaching Pine forest, I carefully head to the northern part of the forest. Stalking them for 8 days, I am already quite familiar with most of their habits and the time they get out of the cave. I picked a location that this group always passes to ensure that they wouldn’t miss my trap. I take out all the necessary items from my bag so I could start cooking. Now then, the Top Chef of Versailles said that the most important thing in cooking was “Putting your heart into it” which is credible I guess but what grabbed my attention was when she said “When serving the food, it should smell and look so good that you can’t help but eat it right away”. This solved the problem of the goblins taking it back to the cave. The only problem then was how I could make meat look and smell so good that they can’t help but eat it. The answer was my secret weapon, a special mix of herbs and spices to be used as a “Dry Rub” that I learned from the barbecue auntie while adding things I found on the net. I needed to buy all these in the nearest city, Blue Rose City, so I asked Rak-ahn to fly me there. It took 800g and a lot of trial and error to perfect but the result was worth the effort since Rak-ahn nearly assaulted me when I presented the grilled meat to him. The meat I chose was from a deer I painstakingly stalked and hunted. I took out seven pieces of meat and apply my “Dry Rub” then proceeded to grilling it.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaa……Why do I have to give my very best to cook for dumb goblins?” I was starting to have mixed feelings but I can’t afford to stop now

I finish grilling the meat with the best of my abilities and the cooked meat looks so delicious it was a shame that only goblins will eat it. I felt great regret only up until I generously put White Powder on the cooked meat. Checking the time, I saw that the goblins should reach this area soon so I decided to leave the place and hide. The grilled meat was still smoking a bit when the goblins arrived. Time for the moment of truth, if the goblins take it back then I would’ve wasted days doing this not to mention all the effort I put in.

“Kiiiiii we find foooooD!!!”

“kikikikikiki it tastes gooooooD! Goblord be happpy!!”

“(ah crap)”

“Kiiiii too little meat! Goblord not know if we eaaat!”

“kikikiki we eat tasty meat? Kikikiki”

“kikikikiki loook there meat for us eacH! So we eat and not tell goblord!”

Thank god the goblins are a greedy bunch after all. Well the key to this plan was the smell, looks and also quantity of the meat. If it was too much then they would have taken it back so cooking just enough will compel them to eat it more. It seems the goblins fear this Goblin Lord quite a bit since not a single one started eating until they made sure each one took a piece. It looked like they really enjoyed it since they even ate the sticks I used to grill the meat. Judging from my experiments before, it will take a minute or two before the White Powder shows its effects. I waited patiently as I watch the goblins search the area for more grilled meat but too bad for them since they already ate it all. It took five full minutes before it finally took effect and the goblins started falling to the ground.

“kiiiiiiiiii?!” x7 was the only thing they manage to say before being completely paralyzed

“Hoh~ look at what we have here…..if it ain’t my good old friend the goblin~” Once I saw the goblins fall, I quickly head for one of them. It was the same goblin that killed me before and the reason why I chose this group in the first place

“Hehehehehehehe………fancy meeting you here~ I would love to sit and talk but unfortunately I have a skull to bash~” Since I didn’t know how long the White Powder’s effect will last, I decided to quickly finish the goblin group. Since hitting the head did a lot of damage before, that’s what I decided to do

“Mwahahhahahahahhah *Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*” I could clearly see the fear in the goblins eyes but I couldn’t care less and just bashed its head for 2 minutes and then it turned to light

“Hmm~ Next~” *Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*Bang*Bang!*Bang!*

I continued this until I killed all the paralyzed goblins. Those goblins gave quite a bit of experience since I gained a level for every two goblins that I killed! They also dropped several items like caps, rusty armors and a bunch of bone clubs. I was extremely happy with this accomplishment since I also released a lot of stress from bashing heads. Since the plan worked perfectly, I decided to locate other goblin groups. Repeating the same operation, I manage to take out two more goblin groups before midday. I decided to head to the cave at this point because goblins return to the cave at midday to present the food they hunted. The Goblin Lord clearly wasn’t happy that 3 groups didn’t show and after taking the spoils and shouting a bit, the Goblin Lord decided to return to the cave followed by the Hobgoblins and half the goblin warriors. The other half always stays to guard the entrance of the cave along with several goblins while the 4 hunting groups head out again. I decide to stalk another group to see if there’s any change now that 3 groups are missing but after following them for a while, I see them continue as before so I get ready once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Huuuuuuuuuuuuu………..What a workout~ ………………whahahahhahahahh I actually managed to kill them all!” Yep, killing the other 4 goblin groups was easier since I gained 10 levels from killing the first 3 groups and I put all stat points to STR. The risk of another group finding me while I was bashing skulls also lessened every time a group disappears.

“Now, time to see how they respond when all their hunters are now gone~” I was already prepared for a stake-out on the cave so there was no need to return to the village. I only need to worry about the monsters around since they get 50% stronger at night. This also applies to starred monsters so a fight with them at night is to be avoided at all cost.

I once again stalk tree after tree until I can see the cave. When I reached the place, I see the goblin lord is very, very angry. Since I was a bit far away, I couldn’t understand what its saying and only a loud “KIIIIIIIIIIIII!!” reaches me. It spent quite a bit of time shouting at the remaining goblins and then returns back inside the cave again followed by the hobgoblins. I expected the other goblins to enter as well but they didn’t. The goblin warriors and remaining goblins split into 5 different groups and headed to the forest once again. There was a group heading straight for me so I had to hide myself completely. I decided to stalk the group that passed by to get info on them since I didn’t expect them to hunt at night. I continue to follow them until they found a pack of wolves which they killed easily. After killing the wolves, the goblins head back to the cave again. It seems the goblins aren’t planning to come back out so I venture into the forest again to try and find the other goblin groups. I spot another group returning to the cave while also carrying several dead wolves. When they reach the cave, I saw the other groups all carrying dead wolves returning to the cave. I stayed at my hiding place to watch the cave for the remainder of the night but not a single goblin went back out again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Haaaaaaaa……things just get better and better….……..who would’ve thought those goblins will only hunt at night now….” It’s just one problem after another…….

Things got a bit complicated since the goblins started hunting at night. I spent 2 nights stalking them and found out that they don’t have any fixed hunting pattern and just randomly walk at night. This was a problem because they often run into each other. I also can’t start a fire and cook since they’ll spot it easily. I expected the goblin lord to send the goblin warriors to hunt next and I intended wiping them out with the same method. The goblin lord and his hobgoblin guards will most stay In the cave once the goblin warriors doesn’t return as well. If the hobgoblins also get sent out then I’ll deal with them the same way. If they hole up inside then I’ll lure them out by roasting large quantities of meat in front of the cave. Of course all the meat will be coated with White Powder…..unfortunately this is now impossible……….I was walking around spring village when....

“Hello everybody~ come and see my latest invention! It’s a steam generator! Use it to prank your friends! It’s compact enough so you can wrap it in a box and when your target opens it…BAM! Hot steam will hit his face~ Just be careful cause it’s HOT!”

It seems there’s a peddler selling his “new” invention. Inventors weren’t really rare anymore in Royal Road and lots of them already made a name for themselves. The guy that invented the magic propelled warship is one such example. Too bad a compact steam generator won’t really help me cause steam is just stea……….hmmmm?

“Hey! You said that it’s compact. Does this mean you also have a large one that can make a lot of steam?” suddenly a new idea pops into my head

“Oho~ dear customer, there is no need for a large one because this can generate a lot of steam so long as there’s enough water!”

“Really now……can you tell me how it works?” He gave me a better answer than I hoped for

“I would be happy too! Now please look at this container over here. It is made from special materials and can hold a lot of water and withstand 2000 Celsius! The biggest container can hold 30 liters! Isn’t that amazing! Now this device here needs to be put inside the container. This little guy is the one responsible for generating heat! It can instantly turn up to 30 liters of water into steam! If you use that much water then a large area will definitely be covered with steam! Unfortunately I can’t tell you how it works since that would compromise me if anyone decides to claim it was them who created this masterpiece!” The peddler gave me quite an explanation and he was very exited from start to finish

“Hmmmm………..that’s very interesting……..does that come with a remote?” This is very important so I needed to be quite far away when it “explodes”

“Ah….unfortunately, I can only make a timer with it…….but DEAR CUSTOMER! In the future I’m sure I can make it possible to be controlled remotely so you can prank others better!” it seems he thinks it can only be used for pranks…..well he’s dead wrong on this

“………………….can you put anything in the water? It won’t break suddenly if add stuff to the water won’t it?”

“No need to worry about that dear customer! You can add food colors or put stuff that will stink! The only limit is putting something that will dissolve the device!”

“……………Alright….I’ll buy one …….I want a warranty though” Yep, I’ve learned to be prudent now because of past experience.

“…..A warranty? Um, you wouldn’t use it till it break and ask for a replacement will you?”

“Hahahah....I won’t…well I do intend to use 10 liters of water so I want a warranty that it won’t break if I use that much”

“Eh? 10 liters? If your gonna prank someone I recommend to only use a maximum of 500 mm water since that's a lot of steam already” I can see the peddler getting a bit worried when he heard I plan to use 10 liters

“Please don’t worry; I don’t plan on using it on any “human”. I mostly plan on letting the steam out on an open area to see how far it can reach”

“Ahahha is that so! I understand! But please be very far away when you do this!” oh don’t worry I will be very, very far away

“So….how much is one?”

“It’s very affordable! Only 2000 gold!” with that I can see the people gathered around leave immediately

Not that I don’t understand. This is just a small village with mostly new players so they probably don’t even have 1000 gold, he should’ve went to Blue Rose City to sell at that price. I can see the peddler lose all his excitement when the people around leave but when he saw me still staying, he suddenly looked at me with great expectation. It was still within the range that I can pay and I actually plan on buying one. Since I’m the only customer left, I decided to haggle like Claudia does. She did say to “haggle till they cry” but since I wasn’t Claudia, I was a bit merciful…only a bit. In the end I manage to buy 1 for 1500 gold and a 30 liter container for another 200 gold. Of course I didn’t forget about my warranty which appeared as another pop up window

“*Sniff* sniff* thank you *sniff* for buying dear customer….*sniff*” the peddler was nearly crying, no he did cry a bit especially when I said I’d buy 1 for 500g I quickly said it was a joke and raised to 1000g which still made him cry

“Now, now…don’t cry….If I break this from “playing” around then I’ll buy another one from you~ “

“Really?”

“Yep~ anyways, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? I’m Riyen”

“Oh! Dear customer! My name is Zeke! The Great Inventor Zeke!”

I then left Zeke to head to a nearby stream. Since this was a rural village to begin with, finding water sources was pretty easy. I quickly filled the container with 10 liters of water. Zeke also gave me a manual when I bought the boxlike device. The device is pretty easy to use since you just need to set the timer then press a button. It seems the timer can only be set with a max of 15 minutes and it needs 24 hours to recharge before you can use it again. Well, I can live with those kinds of drawbacks but I need to test it out first. I went to an open area that doesn’t have any players and set the container on the ground. I then put 10 minutes on the timer, dropped it inside and then ran far away. I was beginning to question how can a small box generate heat hotter than a magma and how can a container withstand that kind of heat and the resulting sudden expansion of gas when……..

You’ve used Zeke’s steam Generator!

*PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!*

I was 10 meters away but I still got hit full on by the steam and it was frigging HOT! My Hp dropped by 500 even though I was quite far away. This thing can easily be turned into a lethal weapon. The steam lasted for several seconds before it disappears. I then head towards the spot where I put the container and saw that it was still intact. It didn’t even have any parts that melted and it was the same for the box. How the hell did Zeke make this stuff?! If people find out about this, then he’ll definitely be famous! I looked at the guide again and saw a warning that the box will break apart if you try to pry it open. Good thing I read this since I actually wanted to try and open the box. Anyway, with this, I was all set! I just need to wait for the box to recharge and then head to Pine Forest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another 2 days have passed in Royal Road and Zeke’s Steam Generator in now fully charged. I hunted the surrounding monsters while I was waiting so I now have quite a bit of meat saved. It was also no longer a challenge since I gained 19 levels from killing the goblin groups. I decided to enter the forest during the day to find a suitable location to gather all the goblins. Yep, I intend to kill all 65 of them at the same time! For this, I needed to find a large enough space where all 65 goblins can easily reach. I decided to use another clearing I found not far away from the cave and started to gather lots of wood and dry leaves. I intend to make a very large bonfire to catch the attention of all the goblins. Once I was satisfied with its size, I head to the goblin’s cave to wait for nightfall.

One hour after the sun sets, I finally see the goblins leave the cave. I quickly ran back when half of them are outside to light the bonfire. I also put lots of meat near the bonfire so the goblins will come near it. It didn’t take long for the fire to become really big and start to attract the goblins. I quickly set the timer to 10 minutes when I saw the goblins get closer to the bonfire. I placed the container near the bonfire as well and started to run far away. I can’t even check to see if all the goblins approach the bonfire because the container is filled with a very special mix of water, White Powder and Green Powder. Green Powder was one of the items in the bag that the Elder gave me. I remember the Elder mixing it in water and having sick villagers drink it to help them sleep better. I happen to find it in the bag while waiting for the box to recharge. There were also other urns and jars but most of them contain stuff that will cure injuries. I also already tested the Green Powder and it’s quite potent as well.

You’ve used Zeke’s steam Generator!

The notification window that I was waiting for finally appeared. I ran quite a bit of distance since I was pretty sure the mixture was quite “deadly”. The container was again filled with 10 liters of water with three fists full of White Powder and Green Powder! I decided to run back after waiting for 3 minutes.

“……………………………………….Mwahahahahhahahahhahhahahhahah!” since steam was water turned into gas, it also put out the large fire from the bonfire but that’s not important anymore. What’s important is the ground littered with dozens of goblins!

“Hmmmmmm…..gotta catch them all!” I quickly head for a goblin warrior and then….

*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*

I started bashing its defenceless head until it died. I quickly head for another goblin warrior and started bashing its head as well. I continue doing this while counting them. After 50 minutes, I was finally at the last target. It took a bit of time since there was a lot of them and they were scattered around but I finally manage to kill nearly all the goblins.

“Hehehehehehehhe………the last one……with this, 65 goblins would have fallen……hehehehehehhe…….*Bang!*Bang*Bang!” I started bashing the head of the last goblin. Since this was just a goblin, it didn’t take 30 seconds to kill it off

*Ding!!*

You have gained a level!

*Ding!!*

You have acquired a Title!

Title: Head Hunter

You have shown great skill in hitting your opponents head! You have accurately hit your opponents head without missing a single shot! Even the best warriors will envy your skills and shall fear you in a fight!

Effects: Hitting the opponents head will grant 2x more damage and a 10% chance them of getting confused

“Ohhhh! I gained a title! My level also increased! Wahahahahhahah!” I manage to gain 20 levels by killing 65 goblins! I gained so much because not only were they V3 mobs, it was also night so they gave 30% more exp!

“Only the Goblin Lord and his hobgoblins are left………..hahahhahahhaha…….I finally hit the jackpot! Who could’ve guess such a device would be so useful!” with the steam generator, killing the goblin lord would be possible for sure so now I just need to wait for it to recharge

To be continued………..