Chapter 19 Huh? S-Scared?

"Let's go." Luke sighed. "It's just a stone pillar, lying in here. If we couldn't figure out what to do with it, then we might as well move on. We're only wasting time here."

"That's right." Jane moved together with Luke while Soarsie followed behind them.

I sprawled my fingers on the stone pillar to see if I could trigger something when Luke and the others turned their backs.

. . .

. . .

Nothing.

"Cross. We'll leave you behind," Soarsie called.

"Coming." I gaze at the stone pillar one more time before catching up to the others.

Maybe the entrance was somewhere else? I thought as we made our way deeper into the forest.

Due to Luke's or mostly because of my ATP, the beasts in the forest avoided us except for those who wanted to contest with our ATP.

After roasting some beast meat and choking on its bland taste, we've recovered some of our HP and MP before we headed deeper into the forest.

Eventfully, we came to a cave at the end of all the trees and rocks where steep mountain range blocked anyone from continuing further.

Two goblins were seen guarding the entrance of the lair. In the middle of the afternoon, their ugly faces were glaring than the sun.

A green body that didn't reach our waist. Big eyes with frog-like pupils. Large pointy nose and ears and an ugly smile with rotting sharp teeth. Their weapon of choice was wooden clubs, make-shift daggers, and their sharp nails.

Somewhere in the Cave, an aging carcass was leaving a sour scent of death that lingered in the air. I shivered, not daring to think what was inside that Cave of darkness.

There was definitely a horde of Goblins there.

"Let's go." Luke tightly grabbed his sword.

However, before he could jump from the bushes and give our location away, I pulled his sleeve and interrupted him.

"Shouldn't we plan our move first?" I asked as he kneeled back onto the dirt.

Jane sneered. "What's there to plan? They're clearly outnumbered. And didn't you see those Goblins HP and MP? 70 HP and 20 MP. They're very low level."

It was just the goblins HP and MP on top of their names. But what about the rest of their stats? Who knows if those goblins have insanely high STR in the end?

Rather, why was she so antagonistic towards me? She probably still wasn't over at my blunder that almost cost her life.

Understandable.

I ignored her and explained further, "If this is a Goblins' den, then if we attack and cause a racket, there might be a chance that some of them would pour out of the cave, and it would be us that will be outnumbered next."

Jane pouted. She opened her mouth but closed it again.

She should really stop thinking that this was like a game. This was our real-world now, and every possibility to make sure that we continued to exist in the future should be taken into consideration.

<Host is right to embrace his fear! Without fear, there isn't caution and progress. But fear not for the Evil System––">

"Anyway. Though they appeared weak" and scary, I thought, "but if they attack us in hundreds, we will surely die."

Soarsie gulped, and I held her hand tighter to ease her worry. Though I probably wasn't helping since I was shaking myself.

Luke raised an eyebrow, but he heard me nevertheless. "What do you suggest we do?"

I thought for a moment and said, "How about we lured those two goblins away from their cave first before finishing them off." That was the original plan anyway that somehow got lost in the face of the Goblin's low HP and MP.

"And then what?" Jane grumbled.

"And then, we proceed inside the cave and check it first, just to make sure that nothing would catch us off guard," I said, skimming my jaw.

Jane looked me in the eye with a frown on her face. "Are you suggesting that we postpone our hunt?"

"We don't know the terrain and their numbers. And we don't even know about those goblins. I think it would be safer if we act with caution," I said seriously with a solemn face.

Jane stifled a mocking laugh. "You're just afraid. Don't worry. Luke would handle everything while I supported him. You can just stay in the back and leech on our kill like you always do."

Ugh . . . What did she mean by leeching? Didn't she know that I had to personally kill x10 Goblins to finish my quest?

Rather, she should worry about herself. Someone had to lower those Goblins' HP for her to last kill so she could finish her own quest.

Right system?

<Right, Host.>

"You." Soarsie stepped in, and I pulled her arm. I didn't want to be the cause of the rift between the group. I wanted Soarsie to have a good relationship with Jane and Luke as much as possible.

If Jane refused to heal Soarsie because of me, it would be a problem.

"Anyway, it's up to Luke," I said, passing the ball to our leader. If Luke was the one who made the decision, then Jane wouldn't have anything to say about it.

Surely, he would make the right decision. Luke wasn't the type of guy that would rash things. He would surely take my side on this.

"Let's go in," said Luke.

". . ." Egh?

I felt betrayed again.

There was something in the way that Luke's face held impatience that wasn't there before.

What was he hurrying about?

It was not like the Goblins would disappear forever. We could always kill them after they respawn. But our lives weren't unlimited. Once dead, we would stay dead.

Luke faced us all and continued, "Cross had a point, but we couldn't afford to postpone our hunt. The best course would be to lure those two goblins and test our strength against them before venturing inside the Cave after we know for sure that we could defeat multiples of their numbers."

Huh? What did he mean by couldn't postpone?

It felt like he was in a hurry for something.

"But––!"

My protest went to deaf ears when Luke cut me off.

"However, we shouldn't venture deeper into the Cave. We should stay closer to the exit as much as possible to ensure that we can escape if something unexpected happens. And as soon as we each got our five goblin kills, we will retreat and go back to the village. Agreed?"

My face lit up. As expected of Luke. I think it wasn't a bad idea.

And the two women have the same opinion as me, with faces beaming.

We nodded and planned our strategy on how to lure the two goblins away from the Cave when another group suddenly appeared.