Boom!
The missile struck its chest, and the immense kinetic energy sent the Goblin Warrior flying backward. It slammed heavily against the stone wall with a dull thud.
Its chest was completely caved in, white ribs protruding through its flesh, and blood mixed with bits of internal organs spewed from its mouth.
“「Magic Missile」 Proficiency +1. Current Lv.1 (1/10)”
“Killed one Goblin Warrior. Obtained Talent Points (Goblin) *10”
That felt good.
With the Talent Points credited, Lynn was thoroughly satisfied.
Furthermore, even Lynn was somewhat surprised by the sheer power of this spell.
He now suspected that even if a fully healthy Goblin Warrior were to face it, they probably wouldn't survive a single hit from this Magic Missile.
Was this the power of a prestigious spellcaster?
A monster that the monk, the strongest member of the party in terms of raw power, had struggled against for so long, had been killed by him with a mere wave of his hand.
Of course, it wasn't actually as easy as he made it sound.
This single Magic Missile had completely drained his mana, even leaving him with a sense of physical exhaustion from overexertion.
The spell randomly obtained from the "Goblin Apprentice" talent had a rather high mana cost. If Lynn's Intelligence attribute hadn't been high enough, he might not have even been able to cast it once.
With both his physical stamina and mana completely depleted, a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him.
He swayed on his feet as his vision went black, nearly passing out on the spot.
No, I can't pass out yet. We're not in a safe place...
Lynn forced himself to stay upright and limped over to his temporary teammates.
Leaning against the stone wall, he rested for a good while before finally recovering from his weakened state, barely regaining the ability to move.
Before he could say anything, Gan the monk spoke up first. He then instructed the knight and the ranger, “Solon, Hal, go gather the loot. If Betty wants to try it out, you two can teach her how to identify valuable spoils.”
Solon the knight called out from the side, “Lynn, do you want to help gather the loot? You did a lot of the heavy lifting in this fight. Feel free to take whatever you want.”
Nearby, Hal the ranger paused as he picked up his war bow, but he quickly went back to gathering the loot on the ground as if nothing had happened.
Lynn, of course, had no intention of being overly polite with these adventurers.
He already planned to become an adventurer himself, so learning how to identify loot from these veterans would definitely come in handy in the future.
Aside from the supplies plundered from the villagers, the rest of the monsters' hoard belonged to the adventurers as spoils of war.
For adventurers, this was a major source of income besides the quest rewards.
Among adventurers, there was no shortage of legends about finding magical weapons in goblin caves or striking it rich overnight by finding nuggets of gold in kobold mines.
Seeing Lynn walk over, Hal the ranger averted his gaze, as if he wanted to apologize but couldn't bring himself to swallow his pride.
However, his hand, injured by the monster, was trembling slightly.
Betty noticed this immediately and patted Hal on the shoulder.
Hal looked up to see a small potion bottle being handed to him, the red liquid inside sloshing gently.
“Pour some of this on your hand. If you let that injury linger, it might leave permanent damage.”
Hal the ranger instinctively shook his head in refusal.
A single bottle of Life Potion was far too expensive; he simply couldn't afford it.
Yet, his constantly trembling right hand reminded him that if he didn't treat it now, the worsening wound could very well end his career as an adventurer.
Such was the reality for low-level adventurers. Without a spellcaster to heal them, accidental injuries would often fester and worsen, eventually robbing them of their combat capabilities and forcing them into a miserable retirement.
Generally speaking, a quest to clear out goblins shouldn't have resulted in such a severe injury. They had simply run into exceptionally bad luck this time...
In the end, a hesitant Hal could only bow his head in gratitude and accept the Life Potion Betty offered.
He poured a small portion of the Life Potion over his hand before handing the rest back to Betty.
Betty did not decline and took it back, saying, “I won't be paying you any extra for this commission, then. We'll consider it payment for the potion.”
Hal looked at Betty with deep gratitude. He knew very well that his reward for this commission was nowhere near enough to cover the cost of even a fraction of a Life Potion.
Solon the knight quickly chimed in from the side, “Lady Betty, you can keep my share of the reward as well! Otherwise, you'd be taking too much of a loss!”
From the side, Lynn watched them out of the corner of his eye.
It seemed that alchemical items in this world were incredibly expensive, to the point where low-level adventurers couldn't even afford a Life Potion.
But truth be told, the effects of this Life Potion were indeed extraordinary.
Less than half a minute after Hal poured it on, his badly burned and mangled wound had already completely healed.
This level of efficacy left Lynn marveling once again.
Even in his highly technologically advanced previous life, it would have been nearly impossible to find a medicine this powerful.
With the worry of a permanent injury lifted, Solon and Hal's spirits lifted significantly, and the atmosphere inside the cave gradually grew livelier.
The group spent a few minutes rekindling the campfire, which hadn't completely died out, and then used the firelight to begin gathering the spoils scattered around the cave.
“Hey, Lynn, there's no need to pick up those goblin spears,” Hal said with a smile, having completely loosened up now that his hand was healed.
Lynn glanced at him.
Although this ranger had started off with a poor attitude and acted rather foolishly, he hadn't actually tried to harm or backstab him.
As such, Lynn had no intention of picking a fight with him.
“Why is that?” Lynn asked.
He had assumed these iron weapons could be sold for a decent price.
Hal explained patiently, “These goblins don't have any proper iron-smelting technology. Their weapons are just forged from farming tools they plundered from human villages. The materials are of terrible quality, and no blacksmith shop would ever buy this garbage.”
So that's how it is.
Lynn nodded and tossed the bundle of spears he had gathered back onto the ground.
Solon chimed in at the right moment, “Usually, the only real loot from goblins is the weapons and armor left behind by the unfortunate adventurers who fell to them. Aside from that, there are their right ears, which the Guild requires as proof of elimination.”
As he spoke, Solon sliced off a goblin's ear with his knife, foul-smelling blood splattering onto the ground.
Standing nearby, Betty was thoroughly disgusted by the sight and immediately averted her eyes.
Even Lynn, who had already killed quite a few goblins, felt a slight wave of revulsion, though he kept his face completely expressionless.
Before long, Solon had collected all the goblin ears and stuffed them into a leather pouch. The exposed stitching on the pouch was already caked in dried, dark-red scabs of blood.
After gathering all the spoils, Solon walked over to Lynn and draped an arm over his shoulder.
“We really owe you one today. Otherwise, we might have actually been wiped out by these goblins.”
Lynn smiled, accepting Solon's praise.
Rate on N.U.
