Red expected the trip to be unenjoyable with the other hunters, but he thought he would be able to endure it easily since he was accustomed to hearing their nasty words. However, it started to get on his nerves because all he heard were their curses.
They were blaming him for sending them on a suicide mission with him. They thought it was he who had chosen them to accompany him.
He didn't even know their names, so how did he specifically choose them? If they were smart enough, they would understand that, but they were not.
He wanted to tell them it was not he who chose them, but the tribe. But he knew it too well that they would not believe him even if he told them the truth. They just wanted someone to blame for their misfortune, and he was the easy target.
Red had had enough and halted his steps. The four young goblins also halted their steps and looked at him with a challenging gaze. They were not afraid of him, thinking they had the number, and they were also hunters, meaning they were equal.
He bet these four thought so when they provoked him, but he was not the old Red who accepted such treatment. On top of that, they were not in the tribe.
"If you can't shut your mouth, I will do it for you!"
The four goblins were shocked to hear that. They exchanged glances for a moment before bursting out in laughter, mocking him with their unpleasant laughter.
Red was not joking when he said he would shut them up. He took a step forward and punched the goblin in the middle, right into the mouth.
The young goblin's teeth broke, and blood burst out from their lips as the young goblin flew backward. The sheer power behind his punch sends the goblin flying.
The other three were shocked, not expecting Red to attack them. They quickly drew their weapons. Two of them had a curved blade, and the third one was holding a spiky bat.
Red took one step back and stared at them with his red eyes. Their gazes and the three goblins looked shocked, not expecting such a fierce reaction from him. Maybe they were so used to looking down on him that they thought he would never change. Whatever the reason, they clearly didn't expect him to go so hard against them.
"He is alone! Kill him!"
One of the young goblins gathered his courage and shouted. Three of them came at him at once, but they came at him at the same time and swung their weapons at him at the same time. That showed the lack of teamwork among the three, or maybe they were just panicked.
Red just needed to take one step backward, and their weapons hit empty hair. They swung with their full strength, which made their bodies bend forward.
He calmly took one step forward and kicked the goblin in the middle. The young goblin's body arched as it shrieked in pain and was sent flying, crashing into the young goblin that had been punched in the face earlier.
He then lowered his body, grabbed the second goblin's hand, and sent a punch to the gut. Not just one punch, but three times. That was why he grabbed the second goblin's hand, so it didn't get thrown away from him.
The third goblin with the spiky bat had recovered and swung the bat toward his head. However, Red was faster as he grabbed the third goblin's wrist. He increased his grip strength, which caused him to scream in pain and release the grip on the bat.
Once the spiky bat fell off, he grabbed the third goblin by the neck and raised him into the air. The third goblin tried to break free from his grasp, but he easily overpowered the young goblin. They slammed the third one to the ground.
Of course, he controlled his strength because he didn't really want to kill them. He was keeping his word to shut them off.
He didn't hold back, but he didn't go all out either. With the leather armors they had, that was not enough to kill them or even break their bones, but it would be painful. He made sure it was painful, and he made the right calculation.
All four were lying on the ground, groaning in pain and rubbing the spot they got hit at. The last three were having it better than the first one, who lost a few of his teeth.
He was confident in beating them because he had used Appraisal on them. They were all Level 0. That was why he was not afraid, even though there were four of them.
"Get up or I will beat you to death!"
It seemed that was enough to imprint a fear on them as four of them scrambled to get up. They lined up in front of him. They no longer felt haughtiness, their eyes shook, and they certainly no longer dared to look him in the eyes.
"Now take your weapon and follow me! Quietly!"
The four goblins quickly rushed over, picking up their weapon without making a noise. Then they lined up again, but they were clearly still in pain. Their free hand was rubbing the spot, their expression crunched, but they tried to hide it from him.
Red turned around but stopped after a few steps. He turned around, "You'd better think twice if you are thinking of ambushing me. There will be no mercy next time! I will kill you!"
The beating seemed to traumatize them, and their body jolted in surprise with the warning.
There was a reason why Red didn't kill them even if he wanted to. These four had some use for him later, and it was better to keep them alive.
He led the way, following the dirt path. The instruction was just to follow the dirt path, and the Matron said he would find the tribe before dark. The words implied that there was a chance for them to arrive at dark.
Red didn't like the idea of traveling in the dark, especially when he was traveling in unfamiliar areas. This was the middle path, where the rabbon lived, and he had not explored further than the rabbon area.
He picked up his pace, and the journey became more peaceful with the four goblins no longer speaking. Just as he thought they might arrive before the dark, the four goblins didn't have the same stamina as he did. That made sense considering they were level 0.
"We will rest here!"
He picked a random spot nearby and allowed the four goblins who looked almost passed out anytime. They immediately fell to the ground and lay flat on the ground, next to the dirt path.
Red was honestly surprised that they didn't ask for a rest. It seemed the beating truly got into them, and it seemed he found a good method to discipline the kids of his generation.
He left them resting as he headed into the jungle, looking for rabbon. The rabbon was to feed those four young goblins, not to exchange them for loot.
Not because rabbon only gave him one core, but because he could no longer get a core from rabbon. He found out that he could no longer get a core from killing the creature two levels below him. That was why he spent most of his time hunting level 4 and higher dire lupus lately.