Saelran continued moving forward along the route he had prepared.
Aside from the usual chirping of birds, there were not many sounds from the common wild animals in the forest.
"It is a bit quiet."
Saelran took out his waterskin, hung it on his waist, and listened carefully to the sounds around him.
His expression remained unchanged as he advanced.
Now that he was certain he was being watched, he naturally needed to be more alert to any change around him.
Hmm?
Saelran's ears twitched. There was movement.
That direction... northwest?
He pondered for a moment, but his steps did not walking. He turned and approached the source of the sound.
The closer he got, the clearer the sounds became—roars of wild beasts mixed with goblin howls.
Soon after…
A large number of goblins appeared before Saelran.
A quick scan showed more than twenty goblins.
At this moment, the group of goblins was attacking a large black ape monster.
"Roar!"
The black ape monster opened its blood-red jaws, roaring while gripping a goblin in its hand like makeshift weapons.
The bloody scene did not frighten the goblins. Instead, it seemed to ignite their ferocity.
They howled and threw their crude handmade weapons and even stones at the black ape monster.
After more than half the goblins had fallen, the blood-soaked ape finally collapsed to the ground.
The remaining goblins shouted in excitement, lifted the ape, and carried it deeper into the forest.
The goblin corpses left behind were dragged away carelessly by the others.
Those who had just hunted the ape together were now nothing more than food in the eyes of the surviving goblins.
Standing behind a large tree with his arms crossed, Saelran watched the goblins disappear into the distance. A cold smile appeared on his lips.
The direction the goblins were heading clearly indicated the location of a goblin colony.
"So this is the trap he has been preparing for days?"
"And this is the same method again?" Saelran's eyes twitched slightly.
He now understood that the sixth orc ambush he encountered earlier was clearly because he had accidentally walked into their trap.
And now, they were using the exact same method.
Saelran felt he might have overestimated the intelligence of that mutated goblin.
However…
Its ability to influence orcs proved that this goblin was special. This alone greatly piqued Saelran's interest.
The only goblin Saelran knew who had the ability to control other demihumans was the Goblin King.
The Goblin King was roughly level 35, stronger than the two rulers of the Arkenwald Forest: Ogloo of the Grunnfang and Aris of the Slythar.
But the Goblin King should only appear four years later. There was no information about a Goblin King in the data Saelran had purchased from the Adventurer Guild.
"I have not seen its true nature. It is very cautious."
"If I had not fully realized the situation, they probably would not have shown any flaws at all." Saelran slightly raised his head and followed the goblin group.
As they ventured deeper, just as expected, a shabby goblin settlement appeared ahead.
However, Saelran's focus was not on the settlement itself, but on the terrain around it.
The ground on both sides was much higher, which made the trees on each side taller than in the surrounding areas.
The two tall hills formed a narrow, gourd-shaped path that led directly to the goblin colony.
"He chose a good place."
"He guided me to this terrain. Once surrounded here, escaping will not be as easy as last time."
"No... not entirely."
Saelran pretended to be unaware and continued walking forward without expression.
"Ordinary goblins definitely do not have the intelligence to perform such a complex coordinated act."
"Are they planning to sacrifice this entire goblin colony? How ruthless."
Saelran's gaze turned cold, and he let out a low, icy chuckle.
"Come to think of it, I still have not fully adapted to this world. Humans are not the only ones with intelligence."
"Some demihuman species are just as smart as humans. Underestimating them will only lead to losses."
"I need to adjust my mindset. Without realizing it, I ignored the fact that humans are relatively weak in this world."
Saelran gently shook his head, muttering to himself.
Since entering the Arkenwald Forest, he had always been traveling east.
Once he learned the general direction, setting up arrangements along the way was easy—something he had not considered at first.
Of course, the forest's complex environment was also a major reason. It was better to stick to one direction to avoid getting lost.
Behind him—
A figure trailing far behind Saelran cautiously peeked from behind the bushes.
Seeing Saelran walk into the narrow forest path, a soft sigh of relief escaped from the tense and fearful green face.
That human was too strong.
The powerful orc had been sliced in half with a single strike. He had never witnessed such strength before.
He was no stranger to battles between humans and demihumans, but usually several humans were needed to kill a strong demihuman.
"Damn human."
"Killing so many inferior goblins... daring to enter the great forest alone... I will... I will make you pay with your life."
The green figure crouched down, his voice slightly sharp and trembling with anger and hatred, whispering while clenching his fists.
If Saelran heard this goblin speak, he would be extremely shocked.
Under the goblin's watchful eyes, Saelran had fully entered the narrow forest path. The goblin's tiny black pupils gleamed with excitement and bloodlust.
His fear faded.
The goblin completely relaxed, stood up from the ground, and followed after him.
He was determined to watch that human die at the hands of so many orcs.
Human flesh must be delicious.
Thinking about the sweet aroma of the strange food the human ate every morning, the goblin could not help licking his lips.
Meanwhile…
Saelran walked forward at a relaxed pace but then abruptly stopped in the middle of the narrow forest path.
Since the creature was secretly following him, it must have let its guard down once he entered the trap.
So without any warning,
Saelran turned around and made his move.
This time, he did not care about making noise. He dashed backward with full force, eyes locked onto the forest behind him.
At the same time—
"I see you!" Saelran suddenly Shouted.
『Buzz—』
『First-tier magic 'Camouflage' detected. Required Basic Magic Caster class, level requirement '1–7'. Current condition met.』
『Would you like to spend 1 skill point to learn it?』
Found you.
Saelran grinned as the updated information appeared on his status panel.