Banshee? No, an ogre!

Chapter 20: First Steps into the Demon Forest

The Adventurer Team's strength rating test was completed yesterday.

Under the guarantee of Uncle Fook, the Fook Adventurer Team has been rated as a white porcelain (apprentice) level one star.

Don't just look at the one star, it has to have a guarantor, otherwise it would be zero for the Oog, who are only registered and unrated Apprentice Professionals.

The sporadic adventurer squad can only take on scattered tasks such as delivering letters, making deliveries, catching cats and catching sewer rats. Members can only be promoted to a star after earning enough task points.

Although not difficult, it is definitely a waste of time.

With a star, it's a different s********e public quests are open, including simple monster-killing and resource-gathering quests.

If you can surpass the star rating for the quest, you can still complete it, although the reward will be less.

Professionals do not need to complete a quest to increase their star rating to four stars. They just need to gain enough experience and be efficient enough.

The guild does not care whether you ask for help or not, as this is part of the professional's skill set.

However, once you have reached the four-star level, you will need to complete a special assessment before you can be classified as a four-star party.

The same applies to five- and six-star ratings.

This is because the Professional Association is responsible for evaluating the skills of high-level adventuring teams, so an assessment is made to determine if you have the skills and experience.

There are many goblin gangs in the forest. How can you be judged to have completed the task?' Seldonik asked curiously.

'Just collect the goblins' fangs. The size and quality of the fangs vary between goblin marauders of different ranks. Of course, there will usually be a customer to inspect them. Our customer is from a village on the outskirts of the Demon Forest, so of course he will certify them.

The sound of birds screeching in the sky caught Vuko's attention for a moment.

'We're here.' Oug, who was walking ahead of them, stopped. A village lay ahead of them.

This was the small village where the order had been delivered. If they followed the river for a while, they would get there.

Who are you? The militia outside the village shouted at Oug and the others.

The general militia in this village were apprentice level at best. The stronger ones had all left, and it was rare for a few true professionals to return.

During the Monster Winter, they had to invite teams of adventurers of a sufficient level to protect them in order to survive.

Compared to the city dwellers who paid taxes, their lives were certainly much worse, but compared to the chaotic slums, they were much better. Some adventurers often stayed in villages like theirs temporarily.

We are a low-level team of adventurers who have accepted a mission. This is our mission. At Vuko's signal, Lange stood up and took out the quest scroll.

One of the militiamen looked at the group from top to bottom, and after seeing the decorations and badges on their chests, he went up and took the credentials issued by the Association.

'It's real,' the militia member nodded his head back.

'Do you need a guide? The militia members were also quite concerned about the matter of clearing out the goblin marauders.

These goblins are not very strong, but they are annoying. The village militia have other duties and are unable to go out, so they can only rely on the Professional Association.

In the past, one village sent out its own guards to save money, which resulted in the village being emptied of many women and magic goats, and many peasant children dying.

As long as there's a map, I'm quite familiar with the area,' Og said.

Chuangle, get a map.

For tasks like clearing out the goblins, they had given quite a few assignments, and by this time they seemed quite familiar with the task, after all, it was not a difficult one.

Soon, a scribbled map of the goblin lair was handed over.

Og glanced at Fuke and, after receiving a nod from the other party, took the initiative to take the map.

After a cursory glance and checking the direction against the sun, he handed the map back.

Thank you, I have a general idea.

For a group of adventurers, a task of this level is not too difficult, at most it is just for practice.

You're welcome. This is the kind of comfort we should provide.'

the militia member smiled friendly at Ogg. When he looked at Lange, Fuke and the others, there was still a bit of envy in his eyes - such young one-star trainees, their equipment didn't look bad and their future must be bright.

He, too, had once dreamed of becoming a professional.

Unfortunately, he had been shot in the knee by an arrow while fighting goblin marauders, and his mobility had been severely limited.

Then wait for good news from us," said the headstrong young man from Therandic, greeting the militia and giving them his word.

They had to return to the village to get a stamp so they could collect their wages from the guild without having to wait for verification.

Then I wish you all the best, adventurers," said the militia with a heartfelt smile as he looked at the energetic young men.

After receiving the general coordinates in the village, the group began marching directly towards the target location; during this time, some low-level monsters that were not part of the mission would occasionally appear on the road, such as slime and the like.

These low-level monsters were usually forest decomposers.

Bones?! Lang walked along and suddenly saw a skeleton that looked humanoid, and he didn't know if it was a goblin or a human child.

This immediately lifted his somewhat flagging spirits.

Sometimes children run away from the village, and some are lucky enough to return, while others die. Survival of the fittest applies to most species,' Ogg said.

He had just explained the division of the next battle plan to the group, and as he was the most experienced, everyone else listened attentively.

This is too cruel...' Lange's voice came through the helmet, which inevitably carried a certain amount of pity.

His arrogance comes from his superior status, but when he sees the dead body of what may be a relative,

he can't help but be moved. After all, Lange is only an inexperienced teenager, and it is the Knight's training that keeps him from losing his temper.

This should only be a humanoid creature," Oug said after the inspection and followed Lange's gaze to the skeleton on the ground.

If it were a human skeleton, the teeth would not be like this.

If there are bones, it means we are not far from the Goblin Raiders' lair.

That's good," Lange breathed out, but the tension he had been carrying refused to go away.

Young mainland nobles like Lange had almost never seen anything like this before.

That was probably one of Uncle Fuke's goals - no amount of theoretical instruction could compare to a few hands-on sessions.

I'll leave the rest to you, Ogg," Vuko said, looking out into the forest, hidden by the overgrown trees.

His mood was inevitably affected. They were about to fight for their lives and the mood was definitely different.

Most of the wood in the Demon Forest is nourished by demon blood and is often hard and fire-resistant, so try to avoid using it.

Ogg emphasised again, then stopped and started the next mission:

I've looked at the map and it looks like we're going to have a cave fight. Fuko, you and I will quickly take out the guards at the entrance with ranged weapons, then Lange and Serendic will look for other exits and block them. I'll go deeper into the main cave and Fuko, you wait at the entrance and wait for my signal. I'll flush out the goblins and you can just ambush them. If I escape, you just hurry up and join me.

You're going in alone? Will that work?' Fuko frowned slightly.

'I need to find out the level of this goblin lair. You don't have much experience, and it would be easy for you to distract me by following me. When the level is a bit higher, I'll call you, but don't underestimate the work I've set you. It is also very important to clear out the goblins that have escaped. It would not be good if they ran into the forest and then it would be hard to catch them.

Og patiently explained. He was very experienced in killing goblins, and there were usually no powerful goblins in such small lairs.

There is usually only a goblin king, and the most you can expect from such a nest is a goblin knight or a goblin shaman.

Without full human training in breathing techniques and magic, the strength of Goblin Knights and Goblin Shamans is usually at apprentice level.

The strength of ordinary goblins is even worse, not as strong as an ordinary human peasant. They are the lowest level of monsters and can only become stronger through repeated raids.

To be honest, this type of consignment-level lair can be flattened by Ogg alone.

I'm fine,' Lange nodded at Fuke and also gave his assurance.

This should not be the time for goblin gangs to loot,' Ogg muttered to himself before leading the group to the nearest goblin lair.

Try to make as little noise as possible and keep an eye out for more hand signals.

'Okay.' ×3.

Goblin raids often begin around dusk. They are very good at sneaking attacks at night. The advantage goblins have over humans is probably that they sleep less.

However, they also have a shorter life span and are still very dependent on the innate abilities that their parents have given them.

It was early in the morning, and the goblin guards outside the cave had not yet been rotated for the next wave, so they still looked a little tired.

They used their green heads to look around, ready to sound the alarm at a moment's notice.