Debuff Master

“Ah…” someone muttered in awe.

Meanwhile…

“Kyahk! Kiii!?Kiiihiiik!?Kyaaaahk!”?Gorgo shrieked in pain.

The Goblin Lord still managed to maintain its composure, as it shrieked in pain while looking around with its remaining eye to check for the shooter. Then, it saw ten riders in the distance looking at it.

Gorgo was certain they were human cavalry.

“Eh? It survived that?” said one of the human riders, a young man holding a bow. He seemed dissatisfied with the result.

“You…! You bastard! Who are you?! Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaahk!”?Gorgo shrieked at the bow-wielding young man.

However, the young man did not respond to the Goblin Lord’s shrieks.

“Too bad, we would have sent it to the afterlife if the arrow went a bit deeper,” said another human beside the young man.

“I know right? It’s really too bad, tsk…!” the young man replied.

Thompson said, “That opportunity was rare.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” said the bow-wielding young man, Siegfried, and then he continued, “It was pretty far you know. It would be quite brazen and shameless of me to hope of killing that thing with a single arrow from so far away.”

“That’s true,” Thompson replied

“I’m not an archer as well, so I don’t think I could have lodged it any deeper than that,” Siegfried remarked.

“Do you think so?” Thompson asked.

“I’m certain,” Siegfried replied.

He knew very well that it was impossible to overcome a huge level gap even if he dealt critical damage. However, a true archer could kill Gorgo, who was almost Level 60, with a single arrow.

“But where did you learn how to shoot an arrow like that?” Thompson asked.

“I played around with the bow a few times in my younger days,” Siegfried said while scratching his head in embarrassment.

‘I actually learned how to use the bow while fighting against the Genesis Guild…’?he thought.

He actively used a bow called ‘Silent Scream’ when he was being chased around by the Genesis Guild. He wasn’t able to unleash the full power of the bow since he wasn’t an archer, but he did pretty well with it.

And the reason he managed to accurately hit the Goblin Lord while on horseback was because of his ‘Horse Riding’ and ‘Archery’ mastery, which were pretty high-leveled.

“I see… Then, what are we going to do now?” Thompson asked.

“We have to start running away, don’t you agree?” Siegfried asked as he pointed at the Schreyer Territory with his chin and said, “I think we will be torn to pieces if we don’t hurry up—”

Gorgo’s ear-splitting shriek suddenly echoed throughout the air, “Kyaaaaaaaahk!”

Gorgo pointed at them and roared, “Uuurggghhh!”

Then, the goblin soldiers under the Goblin Lord’s command rushed at them in a frenzy.

“Yes, I think we should run away before we get caught up and killed. Hiya!” Siegfried said before running away on horseback.

“I think so, too. Hiya!”?Thompson said and followed after him.

Then, the two mercenaries and eight Biermann Territory cavalry followed after Siegfried and Thompson.

The chase was on.

***

“Faster! Hurry up!”

“Hey! Move faster! We are in a rush, you know?”

“Hey! You there! Stack it higher will you?!”

The Biermann Territory soldiers were shoring up the defenses by placing wooden fences outside, pouring oil on the walls, and spreading thorns on the ground.

“Hey, Sir Bleigh,” The Lord of the Biermann Territory, Baron Wegmann, called the Knight Captain in a worried voice and asked, “Can we really stop the Goblin Lord?”

“We have to… After all, the only thing we can do is stall for time,” Bleigh replied.

“Haha…” Baron Wegmann let out a dispirited laugh.

“But please do not worry so much, my lord. Adventurer Siegfried is a trustworthy person, and he is currently stalling the entire goblin army as we speak,” Bleigh said.

“Alright…” Baron Wegmann muttered in response.

It seemed that he was still greatly worried despite Bleigh’s assurance.

“The only thing I can do is to hope that this territory my ancestors had passed down onto me will not be decimated in my lifetime…” Baron Wegmann said.

“We will protect the territory,” Bleigh said as he assured his lord.

“I will give a big reward to Adventurer Siegfried if he manages to protect our territory. I’m not wealthy, but I will certainly give him a big reward,” Baron Wegmann said.

“As you wish, my lord,” Bleigh replied with a smile.

“Hmm… I will give him that,” Baron Wegmann said.

“By that, you mean…?” Bleigh muttered in surprise.

“I still have the family heirloom that was passed down to me. It’s useless in my hands anyway, so it might be better to just give it to him,” Baron Wegmann said with a shrug.

“Do you mean…?” Bleigh muttered in surprise once again.

“Of course, that will only be possible if he manages to protect our territory,” Baron Wegmann said while staring off into the distance.

***

“Kyaaahk!?Kyahk!?Kyahhhk!”?The bleeding Gorgo shrieked at its subordinates.

‘Kihiiit! Humans! I will kill you! I will rip you to pieces alive!?Kyaaaaah!’?Gorgo exclaimed inwardly as it swore not to forgive the human who shot the arrow at it.

However, the problem was that its anger did not subside no matter how much it shrieked or cursed.

Shwiiiiik!

The sharp noise of something flying through the air could be heard

Thud!

Its subordinates fell one by one whenever that sharp noise reverberated, but the cowardly humans would mount their horses and run away after shooting just an arrow.

Gorgo was infuriated by the humans’ cowardice, but it had no way of catching them. The goblins were an agile race, but their limbs were short, so their mobility was limited. It was impossible for these short-limbed goblins to catch up to the humans on horseback, and it was even more impossible for them to trap those humans in an encirclement. In addition, the goblins weren’t civilized enough to wield ranged weapons aside from the poison darts and rocks they often threw at their enemies.

‘Bow! We need a bow!?Kyaaah!’?Gorgo shrieked inwardly. It thought that its soldiers had to wield bows, but it was impossible for them to immediately start using them.

The goblins would also require bows that were smaller than the average bows; however, doing so would mean that the bowstring would be too short for it to display any significant power. Not to mention, creating a short bow as powerful as a normal bow would need different materials, so the cost to manufacture them would be expensive.

‘We have to overcome the limits of our race!?Kyaak! We have to capture more human females! We need the human females to further increase our numbers!’?Gorgo shrieked as it lamented the innate racial shortcomings of the goblins, and that was why it steeled its resolve to fill its new Goblin Kingdom with half-goblins rather than full-blooded goblins.

Of course, the Goblin Lord’s top priority right now was to tear the limbs of that arrogant human who dared to take one of its eyes.

“Kyaak!?Catch them! Catch theeeeeem!” Gorgo shrieked.

***

Siegfried made full use of his superior mobility and range to reap a ton of profit in accordance with Deus’ teachings.

“Maximize your advantages and capitalize on your opponent’s disadvantages when you fight. That is the first step to becoming invincible.”

Deus was right.

Gorgo was stronger than Siegfried, and there were too many goblin soldiers for Siegfried to handle on his own.

However, Gorgo and its army had become nothing more than a lump of walking experience points to Siegfried. After all, he was already capitalizing on their weaknesses by taking advantage of his own mobility.

[You have successfully hunted a Goblin Soldier!]

[Experience Points +650]

[You have successfully hunted a Goblin Soldier!]

[Experience Points +650]

The ton of experience points Siegfried was receiving proved the effectiveness of his tactic.

[You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 15!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 16!]

His level quickly increased as well…

‘Alright, let’s keep this up until Level 20,’?Siegfried thought.

At this rate, he might reach Level 30 before Gorgo arrived at the Biermann Territory.

However, while they were running away from the chasing goblins, Siegfried suddenly dismounted his horse and walked toward the goblin soldiers before saying, “I’ll take care of them this time, so why don’t you guys get some rest for a while?”

“H-Hey Siegfried! It’s dangerous!” Thompson hurriedly shouted in an effort to stop him.

“It will be fine. There is some distance between us as well,” Siegfried replied while pointing at Gorgo’s main army in the distance.

There were around seven hundred meters between the goblin soldiers in front of him and the Goblin Lord’s main army, and that was why Siegfried calculated that he had enough time to get rid of the ones chasing after them before the main army caught up.

“Still! What if you end up dying—” Thompson said.

However, Siegfried interrupted him and said, “I need the experience points.”

“If I were to maximize the effects of the Rune of Transcendence, I will have to monopolize them,” Siegfried added while showing the rune on the back of his right hand.

The Rune of Transcendence was one of the marks of an Adventurer, and that was also the reason Siegfried wanted to fight the goblins alone.

If he wanted to level up as fast as possible, he had to monopolize the goblins and their experience points.

Afterward, Siegfried could be seen smashing the goblin soldiers with his steel rod.

Pak! Pak! Pukeok!

[You have successfully hunted a Goblin Soldier!]

[Experience Points +650]

[You have successfully hunted a Goblin Soldier!]

[Experience Points +650]

[You are now Level 18!]

His experience points increased, and he leveled up once again.

“Siegfried! It’s time to run! They’re getting closer!” Thompson shouted.

“Yes! I’m on my way!” Siegfried replied, and he immediately started running. He didn’t even get to enjoy the sensation of leveling up.

“Kyaaahk!?Kyak!?Stop right there! Stop right theeeereeeee!” Gorgo shrieked in fury upon witnessing that the humans were running away once again.

***

The Hit and Run tactic that utilized their mobility and range continued on for two more days. Siegfried and his party often stopped by the places where the supply troops were waiting to change horses and replenish their potions. They changed horses a total of seven times during the two days and used two stamina potions every hour.

In the case of Siegfried, he played for fourteen hours straight and logged out to sleep for an hour and a half minutes before logging back in.

The whole ordeal could only be described as ‘hardcore,’ and none of the party members had the energy to joke around any longer.

However, the fruit of their effort soon became clear.

The Biermann Territory got more than enough time to shore up their defenses in preparation for the goblin army’s attack, and Siegfried kept on leveling up until he finally reach Level 27.

A message popped up in front of him the moment he hit Level 27.

[Alert: You will soon be able to learn new skills once you reach Level 30!] 𝙗𝙚𝙙𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝒎

[Alert: You may now check the details of the new skills you can learn from the ‘My Skills’ page in your status screen.]

The Level 30 skills of the Debuff Master were finally revealed!

‘Let’s check them out,’?Siegfried thought while resting on a rock.

He clicked ‘My Skills’ on his status screen. He checked the Level 30 skills of the Debuff Master and discovered that two skills were added to the list.

The first one was a debuff skill that enabled him to place a circle on the ground like his two other skills while the other one was a self-buff skill.

‘Wow…’?Siegfried muttered in amazement. His eyes opened wide the moment he read the description of the two skills.

‘These will be more than enough. I can win with these… just three more levels…’?he thought and clenched his fist.

As expected, the Level 30 skills of the Debuff Master did not disappoint him.

While Siegfried’s focus was on his Level 30 skills, Thompson suddenly shouted, “Hey! Siegfried! We have an issue!”

“Huh?” Siegfried muttered.

“Look over there! Gorgo’s army has started moving!” Thompson pointed at the goblin army.

“Already?” Siegfried muttered with a grimace.

The goblin army and Siegfried’s detachment force had a silent agreement to rest once in a while after hours of chasing, but the goblin army started moving even before it was time for them to move.

However, Siegfried did not really mind it.

“Well, it’s about time they came to their senses since we have been toying with them for the past two days,” Siegfried said.

The reason Gorgo was blindly chasing after Siegfried was due to the fact that he took one of the Goblin Lord’s eyes. But now, it seemed that the Goblin Lord’s head finally cooled down, and it came back to its senses after the futile attempts to catch them for the past two days.

“Then, we should get moving as well,” Siegfried said and stood up before adding, “It’s time for us to chase after them and chip away at their rear forces. That is going to annoy them for sure and reduce their numbers by quite a bit.”

“But, wouldn’t it be better for us to buy more time?” Thompson asked.

“No…” Siegfried shook his head and said, “The fact that they are already moving means that the Goblin Lord has come back to its senses. In other words, it has also realized that it’s futile to keep chasing after us. Do you really think that we can fool it with our tactics twice?”

“Hmm…” Thompson hesitated.

“We managed to reap quite the profit these past two days, so let’s be satisfied with it and move on to our next plans,” Siegfried said.

‘There will be a full frontal assault soon. I just have to earn three more levels before facing the boss…’

Siegfried’s eyes momentarily glimmered. It seemed like Siegfried was itching to use the Debuff Master’s Level 30 skills as soon as possible.