Free Web NovelChapter 158: Chapter 128: Even the Goblins Are Using Tactics?
’How adorable...’
Even though he knew she was very strong and not that young—at least twenty-five or twenty-six—the short-haired Maid was so petite. She seemed about Lena’s height, or maybe even shorter. Coupled with her maid outfit, it was really hard to feel any sense of authority from her.
’But, is she really just going to follow the carriage on foot?’
While it was certainly child’s play for someone with her speed, the journey to Silver Moon Town would take the better part of a day. It seemed a bit too strenuous.
Lin Mo felt a little bad, so he tried waving toward the woods.
’She might as well come sit in the carriage.’
However, she didn’t come out or respond. But a moment later, there was a slight noise from the roof of the carriage.
’On the roof?’
Lin Mo froze for a second. ’Well, that works. It’s better than running alongside us.’
’She’s probably unwilling to show herself because she doesn’t want to interfere with Feney’s adventuring experience...’
The last time she’d taken action, it had been over in a flash, and Feney hadn’t noticed.
The carriage continued on its way, and for a good while, they didn’t encounter any Goblins.
Silver Stream City still had the resources to maintain the main roads, especially in the areas near the city proper. Demons rarely appeared there.
But as they got farther and farther from Silver Stream City, the situation began to change.
Lin Mo saw Goblin corpses starting to appear on both sides of the road. They had likely been killed and cleared out by the Adventurers ahead of them.
He suddenly grew anxious, pulling back the carriage curtain. "Can we speed up a bit?"
"No problem."
The old driver readily agreed, cracking his whip against the horse’s rump. The carriage’s speed immediately picked up.
"Hold on tight, folks!"
As the old driver yelled, the carriage’s speed continued to climb. It didn’t even slow down for turns, executing a "drift" around a bend that stunned Lin Mo.
’This skilled?’
’Those driving skills... he was a true old pro.’
Before long, they had overtaken several carriages and were now at the very front.
After traveling a while longer, Lin Mo decided to sit up front with the driver to watch the road ahead.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he spotted the sneaky figures of Goblins on both sides of the road.
There weren’t many, just four in total. Lin Mo threw out a [Fireball Technique], scoring a precise hit that blew one Goblin’s head apart.
He had, of course, already put on his Secret Silver Gloves, so his Casting Speed was enhanced. Immediately after, another Fireball flew out, smashing a second Goblin to death.
As for the other two...
Lin Mo planned to test out his newly learned [Thunder Strike Skill].
He extended his palm, and a net of blue-white lightning shot out, spreading as it flew. Timed with the carriage’s forward momentum, it perfectly struck the two Goblins.
Instantly, a ZZZT of electricity crackled. The two Goblins began to "dance" spasmodically. Within seconds, they were lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth and motionless.
Conveniently, all four Goblins died on the roadside, so they didn’t block the path. There was no need to stop and clear them away.
[Thunder Strike Skill] Skill Level +2
’The power’s not bad at all!’
Of course, this was also because his Magic Power had now reached 7 points.
The Fireball Technique from just now had also seen a significant increase in both size and power.
At this level of Magic Power, combined with the boost from the Secret Silver Gloves, his Magic would now be quite effective even against sub-adult or adult Mutated Goblins.
Oh, right, there was also the Flame Reagent he had drunk earlier and the Flame Magic Stone he had already socketed into his Secret Silver Gloves.
Together, these two items should increase his Fire Element Affinity by 25%.
It should have been 26%, but his status panel showed 25%. Perhaps there were diminishing returns when stacking Elemental Affinity.
With such a small sample size, Lin Mo couldn’t figure out the pattern for now.
He glanced at the current progress of his four Magic Skills.
Fireball Technique was Level 4 (41/100).
He hadn’t used Ice Cone Skill since it reached Level 3, so it was still Level 3 (0/40).
The newly acquired Earth Shield Skill currently had 0 Skill Level, while Thunder Strike Skill had just gained two points.
After some thought, Lin Mo decided to prioritize leveling up [Fireball Technique] and [Earth Shield Skill].
The reason he didn’t choose [Thunder Strike Skill] was because its consumption was quite high—a full four times that of an Ordinary Level Magic.
Although he had a bit more Magic Power now, it wasn’t enough to withstand the drain of an Excellent Level Skill. Practicing it would be inefficient.
Moreover, he urgently needed to raise his Spiritual Attribute, and for that, he had to get Fireball Technique to Full Level.
He was only 59 Skill Level points away, anyway. It wasn’t that far off.
As for [Earth Shield Skill], it was simply because its consumption was low, making it easy to practice. He’d level it to Level 3 first to get that 1 point of Magic Power.
In theory, this skill was supposed to make up for Lin Mo’s lack of magical defense.
But an Ordinary Level Defense Magic wasn’t likely to be that strong. It could probably only block Ordinary Level Magic. And with his current Magic Power, if he encountered magic that even his Constitution couldn’t withstand, an extra Earth Shield Skill probably wouldn’t be much help.
That being said, he definitely still had to practice it, and with priority. After all, if you don’t practice, you’ll never improve.
For the rest of the journey, the number of Goblins he encountered wasn’t as high as Lin Mo had expected. There were only a few scattered here and there, all of which became experience for his [Fireball Technique].
"We’re almost there. Silver Moon Town is about five kilometers ahead."
Lin Mo looked ahead. From this distance, he still couldn’t see it. After traveling a bit further, he finally caught sight of Silver Moon Town’s silhouette.
As a town, it was certainly much smaller than Silver Stream City, but it was much more impressive than Roland Town.
Flora was right. The entire Silver Stream City region, including its subordinate villages and towns, was much more developed than the area around Lania City.
They didn’t see a single Goblin all the way until they reached Silver Moon Town, making Lin Mo suspect for a moment that the local Adventurers and army had already killed them all.
However, upon entering the town, the somewhat somber atmosphere told him that was not the case.
After asking some of the local residents, he learned that Silver Moon Town’s defenses were holding up well, temporarily keeping the Goblins from approaching. However, on the eastern side of town, the defensive line set up by the local Lord and his troops had already been hit by multiple waves of attacks.
The one last night was especially bad; if it weren’t for the help of local Adventurers, the line would have been on the verge of collapse.
’So the disaster caused by the overflowing number of Goblins is getting more and more severe.’
Lin Mo remembered that when he left Roland Town, only the villages were suffering large-scale attacks. As for Roland Town itself, its poor defenses meant Goblins often snuck in, but there were no signs of a large-scale Goblin assault.
’And now, has the Goblin Army swelled to a size that could threaten an entire town?’
’I wonder how things are back in Roland Town...’
’Even though the Lord of Roland Town is a bastard, the people there are innocent. And my friends, Bain and the others, are there too.’
Shaking his head, he put those thoughts aside for now. Lin Mo led Ali and Feney to the local Association, following along with the other Adventurer Squads.
As for the drivers, local officials would naturally arrange for their food and lodging while they waited for the situation to be resolved.
The number of Adventurers from Silver Stream City was truly on another level compared to a small town. Over a hundred had arrived in this convoy alone, and many more were still on the road, arriving one after another.
The head of Silver Moon Town’s Adventurer’s Association personally received them and explained the current situation.
"You’ve arrived just in time... In a little while, once it gets dark, those Goblins will launch another attack."
"Do these Goblins specialize in attacking at night?" an Adventurer couldn’t help but ask.
They were all somewhat exhausted from the long journey.
"Nighttime is unfriendly to Rangers. Arrow accuracy decreases, and the battlefield becomes more chaotic, which is indeed advantageous for Goblins..."
Before the Association head could speak, another Adventurer answered the question.
"I see. Well, nothing for it. We’ll just have to fight."
"Before that, I must explain the current situation to everyone."
The Association head took out a map, which was meticulously marked with different colored symbols.
"Here," he said, "is the defensive line constructed by the Lord and the town’s soldiers."
He pointed to a yellow line on the map and continued, "The Adventurers of Silver Moon Town are also helping to defend it. Judging from last night’s situation, we can hold it for now. The problem is here..."
He pointed to another corner of the map. "There must be a cunning Goblin Caster in this Goblin Army. After discovering that a frontal assault was ineffective, it suddenly commanded a small group of Goblins to launch a surprise attack from the flank late last night. The soldiers on patrol were caught off guard, and the casualties were devastating!"
’The Goblins are using military tactics now?’
Lin Mo was shocked to hear this.
’It seems this Goblin Caster is much smarter and stronger than the one I encountered last time.’
"So tonight, we will need all of your help to guard this area."
Lin Mo observed for a moment, then frowned suddenly. He walked forward and pointed at the map. "This pass is indeed easy to overlook, but it requires a long detour, making it unsuitable for a large-scale attack. After their failed surprise attack last night, they might not choose the same route again today."
Hearing this, the Association head thought about it and realized it made sense. He looked at Lin Mo in surprise. "Young man, do you have any other insights?"
Lin Mo stared at the map before him, his brows furrowed. "Do you have a detailed topographical map?"
"Here."
The Association head quickly handed one over.
Lin Mo took the map and placed the two together, comparing them carefully.
"Here!"
"This spot!"
From within the crowd, an Adventurer in a Mage Robe also realized something, pointing to the same location almost at the same time as Lin Mo.
The head of the Adventurer’s Association looked carefully where they were pointing. A moment later, he broke out in a cold sweat.
This area was some distance from the town. Even if the Goblins attacked from this direction, they would be spotted midway by Scouts. They would have plenty of time to organize the remaining personnel in town to defend, so it didn’t seem like a major threat.
But—
This spot was not far from the main battlefield and happened to be on a downward slope.
"If they station a large force or a small number of Elite personnel here, not to attack the town, but to use the terrain advantage to charge the main battlefield’s defensive line from the flank..."
The pressure on the main defensive line was already immense. Faced with a sudden pincer attack from the flank, it was highly likely to lead to a partial or even a total collapse!
The target of the surprise attack didn’t have to be the town; it could be the personnel on the main defensive line!
Once mass casualties occurred amidst the chaos, even if they managed to stabilize the situation, they would be forced to pull back their lines. Afterward, with its effective forces depleted and lacking a strategic buffer, Silver Moon Town’s room to maneuver would be continually squeezed. Faced with the ever-growing Goblin Army, they would likely be slowly encircled.
Once completely surrounded by Goblins, even resupplying their forces would become a problem!
At that point, if the main city of Silver Stream City couldn’t dispatch enough troops for a rescue, the few Adventurers who answered the Rescue Order wouldn’t be enough to salvage the terrible situation.
Ultimately, when facing the massive Goblin Army, their biggest problem was a lack of manpower and an extremely low margin for error...
The Goblins could easily accept a high casualty rate. They bred quickly, and Ordinary Goblins were just consumables. But humans could not.
