An angled pillar of stone shoots out of the ground, and I jump, landing on another before jumping off of that one as well. [Stone Spear]s and [Stone Bolt]s shoot at me, and I slap the latter out of the air rather than bother with using Mana to create a magical defense. They were easy enough to do that with, though slapping them stings my hands. For the most part, I just dodge the spears entirely.

As soon as I land, I spin around, kicking out my right foot. My heel smashes into the shaft of a [Stone Spear] that was shooting downward, breaking the spear at the contact point and sending up a small cloud of dust while knocking the spears pieces away.

Normally, I can't move around like this. Normally, I'd be fumbling as I keep track of all the various attacks I'm hearing and noticing. A high Perception and Agility helps some, but my body's only been trained directly for about a month.

The reason I can move so efficiently right now is because even though this fight is starting to piss me off and wear me out, it's extremely repetitive. That spear I broke was still under the control of the goblin who cast it. If I didn't break it and it slammed into the ground rather than piercing through me from above, the goblin would have manipulated it out of the ground to try and stab me in the back with the spear.

If I were fighting these goblins one-on-one, I could definitely take them. Unfortunately, this group of five is too strong for me to just wipe out as a group. It's a good challenge, and I'm certain I'll be getting a lot of Experience from this. Though they can hurt me, our power levels are around the same. The Magic and Strength of their mages and warriors, respectively, isn't much different from my Constitution. Likewise, my Magic and Strength isn't much different from their Constitutions.

I conjure an [Air Barrier] this time to stop a trio of attacks coming up behind me as I jump onto another tilted pillar of stone shooting out of the ground. The attacks are stopped as I jump again, and I twist in the air, flicking my left wrist outward. [Air Bolt]s shoot forward, but I don't stop and look to see if they hit.

No, I twist again and land on another rising pillar of stone, jumping off of it. These goblins are summoning so many of them that I can't stay on the ground very long. From what I can tell, they're trying to knock me off-balance, but I'm moving too fast for them to do that.

"Kill the power hunter already!" One of the goblins calls out in their language.

"Just die already!" I yell back in the same.

As I yell back at the monster, I thrust my right hand forward. A violet-tinted ball of compressed air with light suffused through it shoots forward. Just like every other time I've used these during this fight, the two goblin mages block it with [Stone Wall]s. My [Air Barrier] and [Shadow Barrier] spares me from the blast as well.

I take advantage of the momentary pause as the goblins lower their defenses and return to battle in order to draw in closer to the goblin nearest me. The last few times I've thrown a [Flashbang Bomb], the two mages conjure [Stone Wall]s to block the blasts and the other three either hide behind them, take the attacks, find shelter in the slanted stone pillars that have already been summoned, or try to counter the blasts with their own magic.

Because of this, I've been able to get closer to one of the two warriors slowly. They were trying to keep me from doing so, and I don't think they ever figured out when it was I kept managing to without their notice.

Now standing only a few feet away from the goblin, I use my right hand to knock its sword to the side before I slam my left palm into its face. It stumbles back, shaking its head as blood sprays out of its nose. Not enough to kill, but effective enough. I've already hit it with other attacks throughout this battle.

The [Air Spear] I shoot forward blasts through its head.

+387% Experience! You have gained 4 Levels!

I don't need the notice to be separate right now, but I wanted to see them as I kill the goblins to ensure that I know they're dead. One of the things not being dead earlier is why I turned it back to individual notices.

Four Levels has likely put me out of their ability to harm. The difference between whether we can hurt something or not isn't a range based on a percentage. It's very difficult for someone to hurt something more than 30-40 Constitution above your own attacking power.

Thank the gods this battle didn't involve other people helping me. Hunting solo really helps with gaining Levels. If there were five of us fighting these, I would have gained a lot less Experience. Well, due to each Level taking more than the previous to earn, I'd have actually gained probably 100%-125% rather than less than 80%, but still.

I like getting so much Experience from the kills.

As I dismiss the notification, I hear a goblin coming up behind me and immediately summon an [Air Barrier] behind me. The goblin's sword impacts against it a moment later, cracking my barrier. I turn and thrust my right hand out to the side, aiming a little past the goblin knight. Being entirely intangible, it passes through my barrier without issue.

A [Light Orb] shoots forward, aimed at the goblin archer crouching on a tree branch. I don't wait for the thing to drop to the ground to avoid what it suspects is a [Light Bomb], I jump back several times as make an assessment and confirm the goblins are all where I expect them to be, avoiding the two slanted stone pillars that shoot out of the ground.

Then the Light Orb] strikes a branch behind where the goblin archer landed.

The moment after that, everything goes dark. Not the kind of dark like clouds blocking out the sun or a forest at night. No, shadows fill the air, completely erasing all visibility.

I thrust my hands forward in the moment after that, hoping this spell works.

Light and heat bursts out of my hands, flames filling the darkness with enough force to destroy the stone pillars and walls scattered through the clearing and forest before me. At the same time, a loud explosion rings out, a thunderous sound that fills the air so much, my lungs feel as if they're filled with stone for a few moments.

[Flare] Learned! +327% Experience! You have gained 3 Levels!

The thunderous boom lasted longer than the flames and light. It even killed the goblin knight, and I'm glad I used a film of shadows over my eyes before casting that, it was bright. The three remaining goblins are all wounded, their defenses destroyed by my attacks, even most of their gear badly damaged.

An [Air Spear] kills the goblin archer with ease, the stumbling creature with its hands over its eyes dying in moments. Its entire body was covered in burns, concealing all traces of the past injuries I'd put on it.

+284% Experience! You have gained 3 Levels!

One of the remaining goblin mages casts a [Stone Bomb] even while still blinded by my [Flare], even while mostly-covered in burns. The bomb looks rough, uneven, and its blast is weak. The goblin didn't cast it properly, too wounded to focus on casting. None of its shards even reach me, and I'm only thirty feet away.

When that goblin mage cast [Stone Bomb] before, the blast spread two hundred feet in all directions.

I throw another [Air Spear], killing that goblin mage with the spell.

+283% Experience! You have gained 3 Levels!

The final goblin mage seems to have recovered from the blinding power of [Flare], and it fights through the pain from the burns. Several [Stone Bomb]s and [Stone Spear]s shoot at me, the ground breaks as more of those tilted stone pillars shoot out of it.

Fortunately for me, the Levels I gained from killing its four comrades have put me significantly above it. The two mages were the most annoying and frustrating of them, and the other one would probably have managed good attacks just a few seconds later, had I not killed it.

Mostly because I want to see if it'll work, I snap with my right hand as I jump back to avoid the stone pillars, landing on another one that rises up behind me.

The [Amplify Sound] I use performs significantly better than I expected it to. The shockwave caused by such a loud boom breaks the attacks into dust, the goblin mage thrown back.

Still, the goblin mage fights.

I thrust a hand forward and surround the goblin mage with an [Air Barrier] dome, then clench my fist. The barrier shrinks around the goblin mage so fast, it crushes the beast.

+292% Experience! You have gained 3 Levels!

Even though I'd already gained a few Levels, the goblin mages still give me a lot of Experience. I'd have expected them to give me less than 100%, especially the second one, due to the boosts. I guess we were still close enough in power that they counted as difficult. Or maybe it's because of all the fighting against them I had to do, and the amount of Experience I gained as a result was simply that high?

Still, though. If my math is right, that's sixteen Levels I just gained. I call up my Status.

[The Arcane Prince] Name: Maxwell Zanroval Age: 13 years Species: Human Sex: Male Level: 69 Experience: 35.18% Mana: 2,096/2,380 Mana Regen: 2.380/second Strength: 1,180 Constitution: 1,181 Agility: 1,181 Perception: 1,182 Magic: 1,190 Vitality: 1,183

I let out a whistle as I look at my Status. Today's only Friday, so I have another week to gain just one Level. This hunt wasn't even meant to give me a bunch of Levels – I was expecting to gain 2-3 Levels, not this much.

When I left for this hunt, I wasn't expecting to gain that many Levels from five bounty beasts around my level of power. There was only supposed to be one here, the archer. After so many goblins have been wiped out by us, though, the goblins must have started using stronger teams. Groups of powerful goblins rather than one strong goblin leading a group of weaker ones.

I look around the ruined battlefield, then locate my pack. It's right where I dropped it at the start of the fighting, a squirrel-creature sniffing into it. I kick the squirrel away and pick up my pack, then start going through the remains of the goblins.

They weren't as tough as me because of raw Attributes. No, they were as tough as me because of their gear. Each one has several pieces of magical gear, including amulets that increased their Strength, Constitution, and Agility.

Though [Flare] actually damaged the magic items pretty badly, the magic crystals are salvageable and both mages have a few pieces that are still good, including the staff belonging to the last goblin mage.

All of my loot that can fit is placed into my pack, then I pull it on and pick up the staff. A thought activates [Flight Wind], and wind begins to wrap around me, lifting me up into the air. I'm not going to bother walking or running back. The amount of moving around I did for this battle exhausted me.

A simple [Air Barrier] protects me as I soar over the forest, keeping the wind from ripping through me or slowing me down. I'm flying much, much faster than I probably should considering how low on Mana that fight pushed me, but I want to report this as soon as possible. If necessary, I'll reduce things down so that I'm only spending 1.3 Mana per second on everything, though that will reduce me down to about twice my walking speed.

I'm still getting used to this spell, I only finally gave it a try yesterday. It's way more complex than I expected and counts as a Tier V spell. A high cost was already expected for it, but I was surprised by just how high it is to go more than twice a walking speed.

No wonder only high-Level mages use it. They need to have a lot of Mana and Mana Regen to make sure they can make the trip, and even then, they might run into battles that need them to use magic.

Fortunately, I make it back to the fields just fine. Colt and Thomas are halfway to the boulder from the forest when I reach the fields, Thomas carrying quite a large deer monster over his shoulders. They actually kept one of Colt's kills to sell?

I want to land and ask them about it, as well as about Colt's hunt. That's an unusual feeling for me, I'm not that interested in him and his life. He's cute and helpful, but his life is his own. If he wants to tell me about it, he'll do it tomorrow. Just because he's friendly to me, that doesn't mean I can poke into how things went for him while on a hunt.

Even if I was allowed to step above my station like that, I need to report the grouping up of bounty beasts. All five of those goblins were on my list, but I was planning on taking them on with separate attacks.

My plan right now is to investigate up to five bounty beasts a day until next Friday. I've created a list of them and their locations to better-plan things out. I'll look for one, and if I don't find it or someone else has already taken it out, I move on to the next one in the list. I either do that until I've investigated five or have killed two.

That way, I don't overexert myself.

Most of the bounty beasts on my list aren't goblins.

Honestly, very few goblins will earn me Experience right now, and there just aren't that many of them. I need to go after stronger things, like crystal beasts and monsters that are more powerful by nature. A shadetoad that's earned a bounty will be more powerful than a Goblin King.

Their Constitution is usually around 700-800 for most of the bounties on them, but their Magic is higher. Shadetoads have an affinity for shadow magics, and they're quite adept at using them. I'll have to make sure to have some sort of [Light Barrier] wrapped around me when fighting one to avoid any of the curses or other detrimental affects they use in their shadows.

Despite there being monsters where the bounty beasts are superiors, Goblin Kings are still a threat. Goblins have a little bit more intelligence than many monsters, they can craft tools and form large societies. They have armies of their own.

All of that combined turns them into major threats for the same reason that humans are able to challenge monsters more powerful than them. A shadetoad isn't likely to attack an actual city just adventurers who come near it. Goblins will try to wipe out a human kingdom and take over their lands.

The only real way for me to gain Levels now is to kill monsters that strong or stronger. With a Goblin King, however, I'll run into the issue of it having magic gear and others assisting it. A shadetoad, on the other hand, will fight me alone and likely without any magic gear.

Most monsters have no interest in attacking cities. Goblins do.

I land before reaching the zone that flight isn't allowed in, then enter the city and walk straight to the Spear of the Forest Guild and sell the loot, then leave and enter my guild. It's right next door, which makes things fast and easy.

Inside, I place my hand on one of the System Job Crystals (we left them on the counter) and confirm through it that I completed the bounties for the five goblins I killed. This will send an alert to the location the bounties were input into, and the funds will be sent here sometime soon.

"I need to write up a message," I inform Hailey, who is manning the counter right now. "No one is to disturb me until I finish."

"Yes, sir," she responds, her words slow and careful.

"What Level are you?" I ask.

"Level 9."

"Is anyone higher than you?" I ask.

"No," she answers. "And the lowest is Level 4."

They're advancing slower than me, but they're also doing team kills, so they're all getting less Experience per kill.

"Okay," I say. "Once everyone is Level 5, take them into the forest, but don't go very far. The monsters within the first mile or so of the forest are weaker and should be manageable."

"Okay," she says.

"I'm going up to my office now."

Writing this letter to report the incident is going to take me awhile. Thankfully, I know none of them will interrupt me.