Chapter 31: Ambush
Meiva, cloaked in her mantle, emerged from the shade of the trees and tiptoed her way back.
The whole process was nearly silent.
“How’s the scouting situation?”
The members of the Night Owl Team turned to look at her.
“Here.”
Meiva pulled out a piece of yellowish-brown parchment from her chest.
She spread it flat on the stone around which the group had gathered.
On the parchment, she had scribbled some information using simple marks and symbols.
This was the benefit of having a Rogue Apprentice in the team—she served as both assassin and scout.
While Rogues lacked the direct combat power of many other professions and might seem unimpressive in a team, their specialized knowledge in many other areas was unparalleled.
For example, they mastered various stealth and infiltration techniques.
When dealing with special terrain, their light physique and agility made it easier for them to climb, search, scout enemies, disarm and set traps, pick locks, and more.
In combat, rather than overpowering enemies with brute force, they preferred to devise plans and strike at weak points with precision.
One could say it was a profession with very distinctive traits.
Even though Meiva was only a Rogue Apprentice, the stealth skills she possessed were still indispensable to the team.
Back to the map.
Meiva had already begun sharing the intel she had just gathered with the others.
She had sketched about a dozen squares on the parchment.
Each square represented a building.
The task they had been commissioned to complete was located at the ruins of an abandoned village.
At some point, a small group of Goblins had gathered amid the crumbling walls and ruins.
Because these ruins were close to the nearby Mill Village, even though this group of green-skinned small monsters hadn’t yet posed a threat, the villagers had still submitted a request to the Adventurer’s Guild.
The goal was to nip the threat in the bud.
“There are around 15 to 22 Goblins, some are hiding inside buildings, and I couldn’t see them clearly.”
“They’re scattered about, and the specific numbers are marked on each building.”
“Their weapons are mostly stone spears, wooden clubs, wooden shields, and steel knives. Four of them are using bows.”
Meiva described her intel and the makeshift map in just a few words.
“Any special leader-type among them?” Levin nodded and followed up.
“None.”
“That’s good. Let’s execute the plan as we discussed before.”
“Everyone, get ready for battle. We’ll ambush the enemy here on the map. Meiva, see if you can create a disturbance without alerting all the monsters. Lure some of the Goblins out first—that’ll save us some effort,” Levin laid out the plan to the group.
“But even if that fails, it’s fine. We’re strong enough to wipe them out in a frontal assault.”
“Be cautious of the archers.”
“Understood.”
No one had any objections to his command.
One by one, they began quietly helping each other put on their armor.
Gauss, being the new temporary addition to the team, naturally had nothing to add.
The members of this team had excellent coordination, and this mission wasn’t particularly difficult.
He was mostly learning and absorbing experience as an adventurer by observing the others.
Last night, they had rushed to the area by midnight and picked a suitable place to set up camp and rest.
Now that they had slept well, it was the perfect time to be full of energy.
Gauss donned his leather armor, gloves, and greaves, then jabbed his rapier a few times in place to warm up.
During this period, he had also been regularly practicing some basic sword techniques.
Although the effect was certainly not as good as professional swordsmanship training, with enough practice, one could still gain something from basic movements.
At the very least, his thrusts now looked far more proper compared to the beginning.
Of course, a rapier could also be used for slashing and parrying, but those were secondary; tactically, its main mode of attack remained the thrust.
A rapier required its user to possess quick movement and agile handling.
This was something Gauss generally lacked under normal conditions, but he had a cheat.
Once he activated that brain-overload state, thanks to the overwhelming advantage of his 7 Spirit points, he would enter a low-tier bullet-time mode, which matched the rapier’s strengths perfectly.
With his teammates’ help, Doyle finished putting on his scale armor and finally had time to pay attention to others.
Suddenly, his gaze caught sight of Gauss not far away, taking short steps forward and back, warming up with thrusts.
A big question mark popped up in his mind.
What was he doing?
He had noticed that Gauss always carried a rapier, but hadn’t paid much attention.
After all, many classes kept a melee weapon for emergencies and self-defense.
But now, looking at how focused Gauss was in his warm-up—
Could it be that he actually planned to fight in close combat?
Was this guy really a mage?
But he didn’t have time to worry about Gauss—he also had to get moving and warm up before the battle.
Once everyone was ready, they headed toward the designated ambush spot.
This was the difference between a seasoned low-level adventurer team and a rookie team.
Even when facing Goblins weaker than themselves in a frontal fight, these veterans still set up an ambush to divide and conquer.
As Levin said, even if they had the ability to defeat the Goblins head-on, charging in recklessly would only drain more of their energy and stamina.
And in this vast wilderness, you never knew what kind of enemy might appear next.
Even near roads built by humans, though the odds were lower, monsters wielding blades and clubs could still pop out.
Therefore, they had to manage and allocate their stamina wisely.
Saving more energy meant more chances for survival.
Not long after, Meiva disappeared into the shadows, heading toward the ruins after giving the team a signal.
Her movements were as nimble as an old cat.
Everyone found hiding spots and silently waited for Meiva to return.
Soon, faint footsteps could be heard from the direction of the ruins.
They didn’t belong to Meiva, but to a few green-skinned small monsters, about chest-high to an adult.
These Goblins had been lured over by the noise Meiva created.
Suddenly, the lead Goblin seemed to spot some kind of treasure and turned to shout “Wah-wah” to its companions.
Not far ahead beneath a tree in an open area, a gray rabbit lay bleeding, its legs kicking as it fought death in its final struggle.
“Wah wah wah!”
“Wah wah wah wah!”
After exchanging excited noises, the Goblins quickly gathered together cautiously.
While keeping a close eye on their surroundings, they crept toward the gray rabbit.
Goblins weren’t smart, but they were naturally cunning.
Even when faced with bloodied prey right in front of them, they didn’t just rush in all at once.
This was the terrifying part about Goblins—until their ranks fell into disarray, they could maintain a surprising level of discipline for monsters.