The goblins that carried the boars trekked through the forests without knowing that they had two tails. The goblin with the staff couldn’t stop hurling insults at Gu’Smashka, promising him and his clan destruction when his master found out about his insolence.

In truth Shmeija wasn’t particularly fond of the peace that they had with the orcs. He wasn’t too supportive of the idea of having to live with the orcs at their side even if it was temporary but there was little they could do when the orcs were naturally stronger and had other clans to back them up.

Sure, the goblins had other clans for support, but Shmeija’s master had told the goblins to not be hostile until he was ready.

The current arrangement between the orcs and goblins was resource exchange.

Or at least that was what it was on the surface.

At first it was a peaceful arrangement enacted a year ago when the goblins first settled in this place. They were weaker than the orcs yet they had the numbers. Their master saw that it would be a losing battle and thus decided that it was best to form a peace agreement.

The leader of the orcs had agreed as he was threatened by the presence of the Shaman. He was intelligent enough to know that it would be mutual destruction if they fought, unlike his fellow battle hungry mates who wanted to war with goblins immediately.

Fortunately, his strength and intelligence were enough to allow his clan to survive this long.

However, the spectrum was changing, the goblins starting to demand more and more absurd things from the orcs and were getting stronger, becoming a threat to the orcs, so much so that the pink skinned beasts couldn’t refuse. At least Gu’Smashka decided not to.

Skullius and Red Rage followed under the cover of the night, hiding behind every sufficiently large piece of greenery they could find.

To cover the light from their cores, Skullius made makeshift covers from the barks of trees and long tufts of grass.

It was hideous._.

He didn’t like the look and even Red Rage had given a -1 Favourability, disapproving of this action but Skullius knew it had to be done. They would have to get better gear later on as for now, they could only travel in shame.

It was very convenient to have something other than the aura of undeath. He would have probably been noticed already if he was still a kin of the dead.

Well….

He had been told by VOW that Null Life meant being without presence, but he hadn’t known how powerful it could be. Others couldn’t sense anything from him.

They walked a great distance, the world darkening as they journeyed.

After a few hours, the goblins reached their settlement.

Skullius and Red Rage stopped and hid.

The goblin settlement was ahead, where the land was abruptly cut off, making way for a particularly large ravine.

Quite a few unsightly huts could be seen below with a lot of goblins wandering around. They dressed poorly, each doing their duty.

There were weird assortments of houses and huts for the regular goblins while one larger one built with decent mix of mud and wood was in the middle.

There was an ample amount of land beside the river that flowed.

More than a hundred goblins populated the area, their presence having eradicated the plant life as they took advantage of the river that created the ravine.

Skullius and Red Rage hadn’t seen the view yet as they were forced to stop because of what was ahead.

The incoming goblins were talking to a few strong looking goblins that held spears.

These goblins could be seen all around, patrolling around the forest on this side, away from the ravine.

Skullius spotted around 12 of them, most of them spaced quite a bit. They looked muscular, some of them with paint on their green skins that formed obscure tattoos. They donned animal skins, looking better than the goblins that carried the boars.

Soon Shmeija and friends were allowed to descend down into the ravine using a surprisingly intricate set of steps.

Skullius watched the goblin scouts with a steady flame.

He checked their stats, finding that they were just a little bit shy of the Shmeija’s level.

‘This may be a problem. I don’t have much fighting experience but I don’t think I’ll lose. What bothers me is if I can kill a goblin without attracting the others,’ he thought.

He also considered what would be best possible option when it came to levelling up. For him to level up, or to prioritise Red Rage.

In the end, he decided that getting Red Rage stronger was the best way to go as the Apostle was pretty weak at this point. He didn’t want dead weight.

Besides, Skullius doubted that 900 experience points could be reaped from all twelve of this guys.

Could it..?

It was unlike the situation with the Dead end apocalypse boar (Red Rage) that had given him 400 experience at one time. At least that was what he thought. But then again, there was a full 1 Tier difference. Perhaps a miracle could happen.

As for how he would kill these guys, he decided to use a skill that he had tested out before.

~~~

[Static Limbo]

Suspend a target at the corridor of life and death. The duration is dependent on the level difference between the user and the target.

Mana Requirements: 50 Mana Points

Duration: Dependent on level difference.

Cooldown: 5 minutes.

~~~

Skullius thought this would be the best skill to use in this situation and as he looked at the goblin he wanted to kill, he smiled, his flames landing on a crooked bone knife and a steel rusted dagger at its waist.

‘Should be easy enough,’ Skullius thought as he looked to Red Rage who was eyeing the goblins with no particular emotion.

He held the Bone Boar’s shoulder.

“I’m counting on you bro. Let’s get stronger,” he said, Red Rage clenching his tiny fists and the light in his sockets becoming brighter.

“Let’s get to the killing.”

Skullius and Red Rage stealthily crossed a distance to the goblin that was patrolling at very end. They were a bit of a distance away so any small noises they made didn’t attract much attention.

They hid behind a cover of closely packed trees and Skullius decided to enact his plan. He grabbed a hold of a fist sized rock and threw it a distance away.

As the rock landed, it produced a burst of sound in the silent forest.

The goblin turned, placing its hand on the dagger at its waist.

Skullius tktktktkted.

He stepped on some branches with a great amount of force, the sound making the goblin alert.

It slowly approached and Skullius continued producing the sound that he believed would be just enough for the goblin to want to check it out on its own instead of calling for the rest.

The goblin narrowed its eyes and slowly approached the cluster of trees.

As soon as it reached within less than a meter away, Skullius jumped out and extended his hand, Red Rage following behind him.

The goblin took the dagger from its waist and was about to call out with a terrified expression when…

[You have activated the skill ‘Static Limbo’. The target has been afflicted by Serenity. Due to the level and Tier difference, effect lasts for 15 seconds]

As Skullius extended his hand, a hazy blue energy wrapped around the goblin and before it could scream, it suddenly froze!

It’s black beady eyes turned light blue and its green skin turned a few shades lighter!

It just stood there, looking neither dead nor alive!

Skullius wanted to marvel at this scene, but he saw the time that the skill was supposed to last and signalled towards Red Rage hurriedly.

“Now,” he said.

The Apostle responded immediately, grabbing the dagger in the goblin’s hand and instantly piercing the goblin’s throat!

“Ohooo!” Skullius exclaimed as he saw his bro go for the kill splendidly!