Chapter 45: Dwarves

They followed the goblin from a distance.

Soon, they arrived at the side of a hillside, which marked the outermost edge of the mountain range.

It seemed that upon reaching this place, the terrified goblin had regained some of its composure; several other goblins approached from a distance, appearing to be communicating about something.

Following those goblins, they entered into a cave.

"Did you see any scouting goblins around here?"

George observed the surroundings carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

"Maybe those few just now were the ones responsible for scouting outside?"

Thinking about it that way, it was indeed quite possible.

Kana fell into a brief silence, staring at the cave.

He had assumed this group of goblins was nesting in the forest, but it turned out they had established their lair within a cave.

If that were the case, it would be impossible to judge exactly how many goblins were in this group.

The only certainty was that this was definitely a small tribe.

"The smell of blood. Goblin blood," Alis suddenly spoke up.

Hearing this, Kana turned to look at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's coming from inside the cave. It's not from the goblin we just saw."

After a moment of contemplation, Kana made a direct decision: "Let's move closer and take a look."

With that, the group approached the mouth of the cave.

A faint, foul stench drifted from the cave, and Kana also smelled the scent of blood wafting out from within.

"Are they fighting among themselves in there?" George couldn't help but ask. He didn't quite understand, but he felt it would be normal for such low-level mobs to fight one another.

Popot, however, immediately refuted him. "That's unlikely. Goblins rarely clash with one another unless they are fighting for status. Most of the time, they have a clear hierarchy. Even different tribes can quickly merge if one leader is significantly stronger than the others."

After speaking, she couldn't help but look at Kana, who was staring intently into the cave. "You're not planning on going inside, are you? Goblins that nest in caves are the most dangerous, and we didn't bring torches. It's very unsafe."

While goblins nested in various places, there was no doubt that the danger level was highest in a pitch-black cave.

They would hide in various corners of the cave and set all sorts of traps, and most goblins possessed a slight degree of darkvision.

Those unfamiliar with the cave environment could easily fall into a trap.

Hearing Popot's words, unpleasant memories immediately surfaced in Kana's mind.

When the server first launched, the goblin tribes in caves were always "newbie killers." According to statistics, the number of player deaths in such places reached as high as 160,000 in the first week alone.

Unfortunately, Kana had also lost at least two lives in such places.

It couldn't be helped; after all, this was the first virtual reality game, which was a completely different concept from traditional electronic games.

Kana, having experienced a three-day closed beta, was doing relatively well; the average number of deaths for players in their first week of launch exceeded 20 per person.

Pulling himself away from the memories, he noticed the smell of blood had grown stronger.

"Let's go. We're going in. Something is fighting the goblins, and an opportunity like this is rare. George, you hide outside and stay alert."

Kana acted decisively, leading the others into the cave.

George nodded; he indeed wouldn't be able to perform well inside the cave. Moreover, he had enough self-awareness to feel he might not even be able to beat that white rat. After all, he couldn't make fire sprout from his fingertips.

The three of them ducked inside.

They were immediately met by a wave of stench and dampness. One couldn't expect a goblin's den to be clean.

Popot felt somewhat helpless, but more so fearful, shrinking between the other two. She couldn't help but think: *Why did I come in here? Why did I listen to Kana?*

Ever since being saved by Kana, she had been following him in a daze, somehow becoming his subordinate.

The surroundings were pitch black, but the Ratman's darkvision began to take effect, allowing her to observe the environment.

Seeing this, Popot asked, "Should I provide some light?"

After all, the other two were humans and didn't seem to have darkvision.

"No need, we can see."

"Alright." *Since I can control blood, having a bit of darkvision shouldn't be a problem,* she thought.

As they entered the cave, the group became highly vigilant, with Kana leading the way.

"Stay behind me. Be careful not to step on any traps."

As Kana spoke, he moved forward without stopping. He wound his way through the passages, clearly dodging various traps along the way. He frequently glanced around, scanning every possible spot where a goblin might be hiding.

However, there wasn't a single goblin in sight.

The stench and the smell of blood in the air grew heavier.

"Speed up."

It was almost certain that an intruder had appeared in the goblin nest.

Soon, they heard the sounds of clashing, accompanied by what sounded like cursing and the high-pitched shrieks of goblins.

Before long, they saw the battlefield.

"A dwarf?" Popot immediately recognized what was fighting the goblins.

It was a dwarf.

*Are there dwarves here?* Popot didn't know much about the world, but considering the vast mountain range, it didn't seem strange for dwarves to exist.

Kana narrowed his eyes to look. The dwarf was only about a head taller than Popot. He had a stocky build, wore no armor, and had some torn ropes hanging from him. In one hand, he held what looked like a broken sword, and in the other, a wooden club.

Relying on a broken sword and a club, he was fighting off the surrounding goblins. Two or three arrows were lodged in his body.

He was charging toward a certain direction—an area so dark it was beyond the range of darkvision.

"Come on, you little monsters!"

With a roar, he swung his club, smashing the head of an approaching goblin flat. He swung his broken sword in a backhand motion, using it like a blunt instrument to hack another goblin to death.

The dwarf's strength was indeed immense.

However, a goblin behind him thrust a stone spear into his body, though it didn't seem to wound him deeply. Other stones were also being hurled at him.

The dwarf fought while dodging and rolling; it was clear he was at a disadvantage, surrounded by goblins without a proper weapon or even a shred of armor.

"Never surrender!"

With a furious roar, a dull, greyish hue appeared over the dwarf's body. The arrows in his body were knocked loose, and more arrows could barely harm him now.

"Let's go."

"Wait for me!"

"Just stay there and support us!"

Hearing Kana's command, Popot immediately stayed put, hiding behind a rock.

Alis took the lead, charging straight into the fray.

Several goblins were violently knocked aside by her impact, and with a backhand sword strike, she instantly cut three goblins in half at the waist. The sheer force created an exaggerated visual effect.

Alis's arms began to glow slightly red, with veins bulging. She was using blood magic to enhance her physical capabilities. Even she was somewhat surprised by the impact of the strike, staring at her hands in a daze; the effect was much better than she had anticipated.

Following closely behind, Kana charged through the path Alis had cleared, stepping over several goblins to leap to the other side. With a squeeze of his left hand, the blood on the ground transformed into a blood arrow and flew out.

However, the effect of this blood arrow was much weaker than its appearance suggested, only piercing a small hole in a goblin's shoulder.

"Fine," Kana thought helplessly. It seemed his apprentice-level skills were still too weak.

He slammed his shield forward, knocking a goblin away, then performed a piercing strike to kill another. With a hook of his left hand, the flowing blood transformed into a rope that flew out and lashed onto a hammer.

That was the weapon the dwarf was trying to reach. Kana saw it, though he didn't see any armor on the dwarf. With a hard pull, the blood rope dragged the hammer through the air, sending it flying right to the dwarf's side.

"Haha! You damn little monsters, you're finished!"

The dwarf rolled, grabbed the hammer, and let out a hearty laugh.

A small ball of flame flew from a distance, striking a goblin. The burning caused the goblin to scream in agony. As it screamed, the other goblins actually began to cluster around him.

"Kill him! He's the leader!" Kana shouted a warning.

The one who had thrown the flame was Popot from a distance. By staying on the periphery, she was able to maintain a better overview of the battlefield and point out the primary target for the group.