Chapter 126: Fight Against The Goblins 2

Adam blinked.

"Already?" "

The boundary gave him a much clearer perception of his surroundings.

And his mind had become accustomed to judging time during Selene’s training.

Since his first charge...

sixteen seconds.

Ten to reach the archers under fire.

Six to neutralize the nine.

Adam looked at his hands.

I’ve become much faster than I thought I would.

The goblin leader let out another cry.

This time, the warriors didn’t all rush in haphazardly.

Several shield-wielding creatures advanced to the front line.

Behind them...

Spears.

Then swords.

Adam smiled.

"Better."

He moved on.

The shield-bearers lowered their center of gravity.

Adam sheathed his weapons."

He just kept running.

The distance decreased.

Five meters.

Three.

Two.

A huge warhammer appeared in his hands.

The first goblin’s eyes widened.

Adam spun around.

The hammer struck the shields with all the force of its stroke and movement.

The line was thrown backwards.

Several goblins completely lost their balance.

Adam didn’t even take the time to check on them.

The hammer disappeared.

Two katanas appeared.

He walked through the opening he had just created.

Straight blade.

Parry.

Left blade.

Counterattack.

He didn’t stop anymore.

The two weapons worked together.

One turned away.

The other answered.

Then they exchanged roles.

Adam moved forward almost continuously.

The goblins were trying to surround him.

But Delimitation constantly showed him the presences around him.

Two behind.

One on the right.

Three in front.

He stooped down.

Dodged.

Pivoted.

Changed position again.

Then arrived at the center of the troop.

Adam stopped for a split second.

Much too close to each other.

The two katanas disappeared.

A new weapon appeared.

Elaria sat up slightly.

"This one..."

A scythe.

But not one of the ordinary training weapons.

Adam had taken it from Selene’s reserves before the trip.

A real weapon.

The long blade had an exceptional sharpness.

According to Selene, it had once belonged to a retired high-ranking adventurer.

The previous owner had left it to the Guild rather than selling it.

Adam had requested permission to take it for his training.

Selene had agreed.

While promising to personally recover the weapon if he damaged it.

Adam got the message immediately.

Do not damage it.

He tightened both hands on the handle.

Then turned.

The scythe described a first circle.

The nearby goblins retreated too late.

Adam continued the movement.

Second rotation.

Third.

He used the full length of the handle.

His hands slid slightly to change the reach.

Sometimes very wide.

Sometimes shorter.

He also changed the angle of the blade with each pass.

Elaria watched intently.

" Interesting. »

The scythe was normally difficult to use among a large number of opponents.

But with the space created by each rotation...

Adam was preventing the goblins from getting close properly.

And as soon as an opening appeared...

He was moving forward.

Again.

Again.

The group became disorganized.

Then started to back away.

Adam continued.

The seconds passed.

The ranks disappeared one after the other.

The chief, still near the cave, no longer shouted.

She just stared.

Unable to understand.

A few moments ago...

She had sent nearly a hundred fighters against three travelers.

One of the three had disappeared.

Another hadn’t even moved.

And the only opponent who fought...

Was this man.

A little over a minute.

That was all that had passed.

And yet...

The majority of his troop was already out of combat.

The few goblins still able to continue had stopped.

None dared to move forward.

Adam also stood still.

His breathing was slightly quickened.

Not much.

With sixty-four in Endurance...

Even such an intense confrontation was no longer enough to truly exhaust him.

He looked at the scythe.

Then at the opponents still standing.

"Is it over?"

No one advanced.

Some retreated.

Adam was about to sheathe his weapon when a presence suddenly appeared within range of the Limiter.

A familiar presence.

Off to the side.

Adam turned his head slightly.

The air seemed to ripple near Elaria.

Then Lyriana reappeared.

As if she had always been there.

Elaria simply turned her head toward her.

"Well?"

Lyriana didn’t answer immediately.

Her gaze was fixed on the battlefield.

Then on Adam.

Then again on the remaining goblins.

"How long was I gone?"

Elaria replied very seriously:

"Not long."

Adam overheard the conversation.

He put away his scythe.

The last goblins were still between him and the two women.

So he started to walk back towards them.

One of the female fighters tried to take advantage of the fact that his back was slightly turned.

Adam immediately switched weapons.

A mace appeared.

A movement.

The obstacle was removed.

He continued walking.

Two more goblins were in front of him.

Short sword.

Two quick swings.

The path was clear.

Adam didn’t even slow down.

Lyriana watched him approach.

Then she looked at Elaria.

"He did all that alone?"

"Yes."

"You didn’t intervene?"

"No."

Lyriana looked at Adam again.

"Selene is going to be unbearable when she finds out about this."

Elaria nodded.

"Probably."

Adam finally arrived in front of them.

He put away his last weapon.

Then he looked at Lyriana.

"Well?"

This time, his tone was much more serious.

"Did you find anything?"

Lyriana’s amused smile vanished.

She looked at the cave entrance.

Then at the goblin leader who was still standing in front of it.

"Yes."

Adam immediately understood that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

Lyriana continued:

"The cave is much larger than it appears from the outside."

Elaria frowned slightly.

"How much larger?"

"Several galleries. Several chambers."

She paused briefly.

"And many more goblins than those outside."

Adam slowly turned his head toward the entrance.

"A High Goblin?"

Lyriana looked at him.

"Yes."

Adam waited.

Something in her expression told him that wasn’t all.

"And?"

Lyriana remained silent for a second.

Then she replied:

"Our problem is bigger than we thought."

Lyriana kept her eyes fixed on the cave entrance.

"There isn’t a single High Goblin."

Adam slowly folded his arms.

"How many?"

"Each important chamber is under the command of at least one High Goblin."

The smile that remained on Adam’s face vanished completely.

Lyriana continued:

"The deepest chamber is different."

Elaria straightened slightly.

"The Queen?"

"Yes."

Adam sighed.

Of course.

"What’s with her?"

Lyriana raised a hand and counted.

"Two Goblin Shamans. Four High Goblins, probably serving as guards or commanders. And the Queen herself."

She paused briefly.

"She’s already begun to gather her forces around her."

Adam looked at the dark entrance.

"How many monsters in total?"

This time, Lyriana took a few seconds before answering.

"I counted approximately fifteen hundred."

Silence.

Adam turned slowly toward her.

"How many?"

"About fifteen hundred."

He looked at Elaria.

She nodded quietly.

Adam pointed toward the cave.

"There are fifteen hundred monsters in there."

"Yes."

"And you say that as if you were giving me the weather forecast."

Lyriana gave a very slight smile.

"I’ve seen worse."

"That doesn’t reassure me at all."

She continued more seriously:

"They’re spread across eleven main chambers. Most of them house around a hundred goblins."

"And the last one?"

"Nearly five hundred around the Queen."

This time, Adam was truly silent.

Five hundred.

In a single area.

Lyriana added:

"Based on their distribution and the tracks I’ve observed in several tunnels, this colony probably represents nearly half of the goblins in this part of the mountain range."

Elaria frowned slightly.

"So if it continues to grow..."

"It will probably absorb the other tribes," Lyriana finished.

Adam understood immediately.

So it was no longer simply an infested cave.

This was the beginning of a true goblin power center.

And if the Queen had enough time...

The situation would quickly worsen.

He thought.

For about ten seconds.

Then he noticed something.

Elaria was watching him.

Lyriana was too.

Both were silent.

Far too silent.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

No answer.

Adam looked at the cave.

Then at them.

Then back at the cave.

"No."

Lyriana tilted her head slightly.

"No what?"

"There are fifteen hundred monsters in there."

"Approximately."

"That word doesn’t make the number any smaller."

Elaria adjusted her glasses.

"They’re not all together."

Adam stared at her.

She continued calmly:

"The groups are separated."

"So?"

"Deal with them group by group."

Adam’s mouth fell open for a second.

"Are you serious?"

The two women looked at each other.

Then they nodded in unison.

Adam ran a hand over his face.

"You’ve really become like Selene."

Elaria replied,

"It’s excellent training for Weapon Mastery, Boundary, and Adaptation."

"Of course you were going to present this as an experiment."

Lyriana gestured toward the entrance.

"As long as you avoid alerting the entire colony at once, you’re more than capable of handling any outside groups."

"And if something does become truly dangerous?"

"We’re here."

Adam already knew what that meant.

They would only intervene as a last resort.

Perfect.

Elaria glanced suddenly behind him.

"But before that..."

She indicated something.

"Perhaps you should deal with the outside leader."

Adam turned away.

The large goblin he had seen near the entrance was no longer in her original position.

She had recovered from the chaos of the fight.

And now...

She was slowly backing away into the cave.

Adam stared at her.

"You could have told me sooner."

The leader realized she had been spotted.

She turned around.

And began to run.