The two hours of rest passed quickly. All the while, Noah sat on the branch of the tree, but fortunately no monsters came to attack the group. As they learned from their own mistake that too much noise would only bring them more attention and unnecessary problems, during the time of rest when the Blessed Ones went to talk, they tried their best to always keep their voices low.

“Okay, I believe that following the basic training of leaving five Blessed melee at the forefront and two at the rear protecting long-range attackers is the best we can use in this attack. But if someone has a better suggestion, I will be all ears. After all, fifteen heads are better than one,” Jasper said with a light laugh at the end, now with everyone being closer together so that they could hear each other without having to speak loudly.

“As you are as skilled at ranged attacks with your Blessing as you are skilled at handling knives, I believe that staying behind is more strategically advantageous, okay?” Jasper suggested to Noah.

Noah obviously had no problems with Jasper’s strategy; he also believed that this would be the best course of action that they could take with the group that they had. During the last battle it was pretty obvious how low the proficiency of the Blessed Ones at the rear was when dealing with short-range weapons. While they rested, Noah even heard one of the Blessed Ones commenting that he had cut himself with his own knife during the battle. That kind of beginner’s mistake… Noah couldn’t help from shaking his head in disappointment. Fortunately from what he heard the group discussing, the man was a very useful support magician.

‘Being between the rear and the front, I can calmly use fireballs to kill monsters from either direction, and since the Blessed Ones of the avant-garde will do anything to get the monsters’ attention, I won’t have to worry as much about my safety as I would if I were going to do everything myself.’ Noah thought with satisfaction.

It is not because he had managed to kill small groups of three or four goblins that he would be able to break into a camp alone, their energy was still limited.

Unfortunately Fortresses were practically designed to be invaded by large groups. Even if someone managed to kill several small groups on their own, the time needed in addition to the danger that the person would experience if ambushed by several groups would not be worth the risk.

During the journey, Noah began to realize how practical Jasper’s Blessing was for the group. Even though he was the leader, he still acted as the scout, advancing alone with the active Blessing’s agility bonus. This by itself helped the party to locate and eliminate some small groups along the way with extreme ease, and now that they were no longer shouting at each other or making unnecessary noises, the goblins were unable to locate them in time to send reinforcements, causing the small groups to be located and killed within minutes.

Even though they were in no danger, Noah missed no opportunity to burn the goblins’ corpses. ‘Since I won’t get much exp to level up with these goblins, I will at least get exp on my skill.’

After killing several smaller groups, they finally managed to see a small wooden fence that signaled that they had reached their goal.

Looking from a distance, Noah could see that the goblin camp was bigger than he imagined it would be. If it were to be put in human proportions, it would at least be considered a village, with huts for at least two hundred goblins to live. Considering that the Fortress had been open for more than a week, it would not be strange that the number of goblins living there was greater than the number of huts could support – that is, the Blessed party would have to prepare for a large-scale battle and long duration, or try to kill as many goblins around the perimeter before actually invading the camp. Fortunately, they had already killed almost 100 goblins in total since they had entered the Fortress. This was counting how many goblins Noah killed alone in addition to the goblins that the group of Blessed ones killed.

With the group standing near the camp, a thin man with a corpse-like face had climbed a tall tree and from there he started using his Blessing to try to get a more strategic view of the camp. The man had a Blessing that increased the range of his vision like the vision of an eagle, as well as making the enemy’s movements slightly predictable to him as if he could see a few milliseconds in the future. Even though it was not an offensive or defensive skill, this Blessing of the man’s helped him both in attacking and defence. In attacking, it helped him by guessing where the enemy would be, making his accuracy much more deadly; in defense, it helped by making enemy attacks more predictable, giving him more opportunity to dodge or defend himself.

As he came down from the tree, the man turned to Jasper and spoke in a hoarse voice, “It’s a little more crowded than we thought, but nothing that we can’t handle.” The man stopped for a second and looked at Noah. “Even more so with the extra manpower we got.”

The rest of the Blessed agreed with what the man said, remembering the destructive power that Noah’s flames had. Both concerning the difference Noah made when they were cornered and in the small groups they eliminated along the way, this young man of 20 years had already proven himself as one of the most valuable Blessed on the team.

“Thanks, Erick. As everything is in line with what we imagined, I am more confident in following the strategy that has been agreed upon.” Jasper said with a confident smile as he looked at the thin man who resembled a walking corpse before turning to the rest of the group. “We will put into practice what we planned; wait for me here.”

Saying that, Jasper ran towards the camp while the Blessed began to assume their own positions.

Noah had to admit that the plan that Jasper came up with was really practical. He had taken the mistake they made at the beginning and turned it into an advantage for the group.

It didn’t take long for Noah who was hiding in the bush to hear hurried footsteps coming in the direction Jasper had gone. As he looked towards the noise, Noah saw Jasper coming at a great speed accompanied by three frantic goblins who were desperately trying to pursue him.

When Jasper reached the group, it was not necessary for him to give any signal for the three goblins who were running to start screaming desperately in pain. Noah had already emerged from the bush a few seconds ago and with a fireball between both hands, using the upper control he had acquired, hurled the projectile at one of the warrior goblins.

When one of the goblins noticed the strange fireball flying towards him, it was too late; the strange flame when it came into contact with his skin started to melt it as if he were made of green wax. The monster’s flesh started to burn in the blink of an eye, and before the goblin’s little brain processed what was happening, he had already lost control of his legs because of the insane pain he was feeling at the time.

A purple tongue twitched with the howling the goblin was making through his screams of despair, not knowing what to do to put out that flame that seemed to be tearing out a part of his soul.

The other two goblins took a second to understand what was going on with their mate. In one moment they were running after a fragile, yet fast human prey, while in another moment one of their companions was writhing on the floor shouting every kind of curse that one could hear in the goblin language.

One of the goblins, who was holding a blowgun in his hand, looked away in fright and saw a strange human coming out of a bush with a strange flame dancing in his hand. For the little goblin, the appearance of that strange human itself was not at all threatening, but added to the flame that floated in his hand and the small sadistic smile that the human had on his face, the only word that crossed the small goblin’s mind was… Devil.

Sunday’s Extra Chapters Challenge!

[2.300 Stones = 2 Extra Chapter]

[2.500 Stones = 4 Extra Chapters]

[+500 Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]