Free Web NovelChapter 6: Roxanne
Arthur sat at his small desk under the dim light of a lamp, drawing red circles on his map.
His target for the weekend was a hidden dungeon located in the low-level hunting zones outside the city. It was a Goblin Den.
Goblins. The absolute trademark monsters of any fantasy world. Individually, they were weak, stupid, and cowardly. But a den was a completely different story. Goblins bred like rats. Raiding a den meant facing dozens of them in tight, enclosed spaces.
But Arthur had to go. Tucked away in the depths of that specific den was a hidden stash containing a mid-tier physical reinforcement elixir. It was exactly what he needed to fix his trash Strength stat.
He wasn’t an idiot, though. He had no intention of fighting a horde of green monsters head-on.
Fight fair? Please, Arthur thought, a dark, evil smirk crossing his face. He patted the heavy canvas bag sitting next to his bed. I brought a cheat code.
His smirk faded the moment he checked his banking app on his scroll.
[Balance: 420 Credits]
Buying the specialized items for his ’cheat code’ had completely drained his account. He was practically broke.
I need a steady source of income. Fast, he thought, rubbing his temples. I can’t farm hidden pieces if I can’t even afford the bus fare to get to them.
He shoved the thought aside, packed his bag, and went to sleep.
The next morning, Arthur woke up at dawn.
Lornfell Academy had no restrictions on students leaving the campus during the weekends. As long as you didn’t die and showed up for Monday classes, the instructors didn’t care what you did.
Arthur took a twenty-minute magi-bus ride to the outskirts of the city. He hopped off near the border of the Whispering Woods—a massive, dense forest designated for low-level hunters.
Before heading into the trees, he stopped at a local tavern for breakfast.
The place was called The Leaping Stag. Arthur pushed open the wooden doors and immediately locked eyes on the owner.
Roxanne.
She was a demi-human. Rabbit-kin, to be exact. Two long, furry ears twitched atop her head. But nobody came to this tavern to look at her ears.
She was a breathtaking, mature woman. She had massive, heavy boobs that threatened to spill out of her tight corset, and incredibly wide, thick, child-bearing hips that swayed hypnotically when she walked.
Arthur sat down at the bar and stared directly at her cleavage. He didn’t try to hide it. He blatantly checked out her boobs, then let his eyes drag down to her thick thighs and massive ass as she turned around to pour a drink.
Roxanne didn’t mind. In fact, she smiled.
Most of the hunters who came to her tavern were just here to ogle her body. She was completely compliant. If showing off a little cleavage and swaying her hips got her bigger tips and kept food on the table, what was the harm?
More than that, she actually liked the attention.
She was a widow. And as a rabbit-kin, she possessed an infamous, near-insatiable libido. Her husband had been dead for three years, and the constant, lustful gazes of the men in her tavern were the only things keeping her mind sane. It was a dirty little game she played to keep the heat in her belly from boiling over.
She walked over to Arthur, carrying a plate of eggs and thick bacon.
Instead of just setting it down, she leaned over the bar. Way over. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
She deliberately let her massive, soft boobs brush heavily against Arthur’s forearm as she set the plate down. The heat radiating off her chest was intoxicating.
"Here you go, handsome. Eat up," Roxanne purred, her bunny ears twitching playfully.
Arthur didn’t flinch. He didn’t blush like a shy academy boy.
As she pulled back and turned to walk away, Arthur casually shifted his weight, letting his hand brush firmly right across the side of her massive, soft ass cheek.
Roxanne froze for a split second. A sharp breath hitched in her throat. She glanced back over her shoulder, her cheeks flushed red, her eyes dark and heavy with sudden heat.
Arthur just smirked and took a bite of his bacon.
Oh, I am definitely coming back here, he thought.
After a heavy breakfast, Arthur walked to the forest entrance.
Two armored guards stood at the checkpoint. Arthur flashed his Lornfell Academy student ID. The guards nodded, stepping aside to let him pass into the dense tree line.
Arthur walked into the woods with high morale. He had a solid plan. He had his gear. He was ready to conquer.
One hour later.
Arthur was sprawled spread-eagle in the dirt beneath a massive oak tree, panting heavily.
He was completely, hopelessly lost.
Well, duh, Arthur thought, staring blankly up at the canopy. This isn’t a video game. I don’t have a glowing mini-map in the corner of my vision with a bright red waypoint.
He only had a rough idea of where the goblin den was supposed to be based on the novel’s descriptions. But in a dense, sprawling jungle where every tree looked exactly the same, those descriptions were useless.
I used to get lost going to the grocery store while using Google Maps back on Earth, he groaned internally. What the hell made me think I could navigate a magical forest?
He laid there for another hour, letting his asthmatic lungs recover and waiting for the burning in his legs to fade.
Just as he was about to stand up, his high Perception stat picked up a sound.
Rustle. Snap.
Arthur instantly froze.
[Trait Activated: Soundless Steps (Lv.4)]
His breathing quieted. His presence completely vanished into the background. He slowly rolled onto his stomach and peeked through the thick bushes.
Fifty yards away, two figures emerged from the underbrush.
Goblins.
They were hideous. About four feet tall, with sickly green skin, disproportionately large heads, and jagged yellow teeth. They were wearing dirty loincloths and carrying rusted, chipped iron short-swords. They grunted and growled at each other in a guttural, ugly language, kicking at the dirt.
Arthur’s hand hovered over the hunting knife at his belt.
No. Don’t engage, he told himself.
He didn’t want to kill them. He wanted to use them. These two ugly bastards were a walking, grunting GPS system.
Arthur stayed low, keeping a safe distance as he shadowed them through the brush. His high Dexterity and Soundless Steps made him practically invisible.
He followed them for twenty minutes, winding through thick thorns and dense foliage, until the trees finally parted.
Arthur crouched behind a fallen log and peered into a wide clearing.
Built into the side of a massive, rocky hill was a dark, gaping cave entrance. The stench of rotting meat and filth wafted out of the darkness.
Standing on either side of the cave mouth were two larger, muscular goblins holding crude spears.
The two scouting goblins grunted at the guards and walked inside.
Arthur stayed completely still, his eyes scanning the setup.
Look at them, Arthur thought, a cold smile tugging at his lips. They even have bouncers. Perfect. He had found the den. Now, it was time to smoke them out.
