noveldepot Chapter 3 First Encounter with the World
Chapter 3 First Encounter with the World
"The number of subjects under the Emperor's Banner is... fourteen, which is roughly enough to cultivate one elite minister."
Luo Qi's mind sank into the Emperor's Banner.
The combination of the Emperor's Banner and the bow and arrow makes it exceptionally easy to kill ten melee goblins from a distance. The banner spirits attached to the arrows will also bring the souls of their fallen brethren back to the Emperor's Banner to keep them company.
In a short period of time, the Emperor's Banner recruited fourteen ministers.
The goblin spirits initially met the requirements of the Emperor's Banner, but the power of these lowest-level subjects was too weak, only able to interfere with beings of the same level. After cooperating, the elite goblin spirits that were condensed could directly and forcefully kill ordinary goblins.
"However, fourteen goblin spirits can also be arranged in formation. When facing a large number of enemy targets, the formation is more effective than a single elite goblin."
After a moment's thought, Luo Qi decided not to rush into cultivating elite goblin souls.
The battle is won; now it's time to clean up the battlefield.
Goblins' weapons are mostly made of wood, stone, and bone. Their spears are two-meter-long branches with sharp stones tied to them, and their clubs are inlaid with the teeth of unknown animals.
Only the leader of the goblins was armed with an iron dagger.
Luo Qi picked up the short knife, which was only a large dagger for ordinary people, cut open its original owner's chest, and carefully observed the body structure of this otherworldly creature.
"Apart from their green blood, they don't seem to be much different from humans!"
"Misfield, my name is Misfield..."
After the silver-haired girl climbed down from the tree, she ran to Luo Qi, who was covered in green blood, with a calm expression.
"Luo Qi".
Luo Qi wiped the goblin blood off his hands and looked at the girl named Misfield.
The girl became somewhat reserved, lifted her skirt with both hands, and curtsied, saying, "I am very grateful to Lord Luo Qi for saving my life twice. If..."
The girl paused for a moment.
She seemed to want to express her gratitude, but since she had nothing of value, she didn't know how to repay the favor.
"Could you show me a map of this area?" Luo Qi asked.
The language barrier between the two sides made it impossible for Luo Qi to hide her status as an outsider, so she simply made it clear.
Only by understanding this world and learning more about it from the girl can the Emperor's Banner grow faster and safer, allowing him to become a true Emperor.
This was the core reason why he pulled the girl out of the river in the first place.
"A map?"
After a moment's thought, Misfield used a twig to draw several lines and circles of different sizes on the ground.
"We are currently located in the Norster Empire, east of the Northwind Great Green Forest. Following this river southwest past three small hills leads to River Valley Town, and west of River Valley Town lies Greenwood City..."
Luo Qi stared at the simple line drawing.
The map was so rudimentary that he doubted his own sense of direction.
"If I remember correctly, you were originally planning to go to Riverdale?"
Luo Qi remembered that the girl had just asked him to help deliver a commission to the Adventurers' Guild in River Valley Town.
"Is Mr. Loki also going to River Valley Town?"
Misfield asked somewhat dejectedly.
She keenly perceived the meaning behind Luo Qi's words.
The map was indeed very rough, but it represented all she knew about the world.
Growing up in the Silvermoon Church orphanage in Greenwood, and becoming a trainee pastor before joining the settlers in the twenty-first settlement, his life story over the past twenty years has been rather thin.
"I hope Miss Misfield can be my mentor for a period of time," Loki said.
The girl paused for a moment, then smiled. "I admire travelers like Mr. Luo Qi the most. Please entrust Mr. Luo Qi's journey in River Valley Town to me with peace of mind!"
The two men tidied themselves up a bit by the river and walked side by side toward the southwest.
Misfield recounted everything he knew along the way.
Through her words, Luo Qi learned about the general situation of the world she was in.
This other world is similar to the Middle Ages, but it contains real and extraordinary powers.
About ten thousand years ago, the God of Order opened up the nine-tiered path to godhood.
Over these ten thousand years, gods have ascended to their thrones one after another, creating various extraordinary abilities.
The priestess Misfield possessed several different divine spells, such as making well water clear and sweet, and healing wounds. The spell to guide the slingshot stones was originally intended to be used in conjunction with a bow and arrow, making the arrows more powerful and accurate. Unfortunately, the priestess lost her bow and arrow when she fell into the water.
The reason why two people who do not speak the same language can communicate smoothly is because of the extraordinary power system in this world based on spiritual power. After spiritual awakening, extraordinary individuals can perceive the spiritual will in other people's words and convey their own will to others, achieving an effect similar to instant translation.
This special power allows intelligent beings from different continents and even different dimensions to communicate without any barriers.
In this world where extraordinary abilities exist, there also exist extraordinary beings.
Dragons, giants, elves, dwarves... Humans are considered a powerful race on this continent, but they have always faced the threat of other races.
Misfield's pioneer village is now facing a crisis of goblin attacks.
Initially, the village only lost some barley that was about to ripen.
The old village chief, who had once been an adventurer, deduced from the marks on the fence that they were the work of those green-skinned dwarves.
Before the village hunters could find the goblins' lair, two more ewes went missing a week ago.
This confirmed to the village chief that the village was facing a crisis.
The crisis is escalating. In addition to reproducing through their own females, goblins can also have other females bear their offspring. This unique reproductive strategy is one of the reasons why goblin populations can reproduce so rapidly.
Under normal circumstances, villagers can hide behind the stockade walls without worrying too much about goblin attacks. After all, even farmers are not without fighting power. A group of strong villagers wielding pitchforks and flails would deter even ordinary knights from charging in.
But with the harvest season approaching, the villagers will have to disperse to their respective fields to harvest.
This is very dangerous.
An ordinary villager can indeed handle one or two goblins, but if surrounded by a large group of goblins, defeat is inevitable.
Therefore, the 21st pioneer village unanimously decided to go to River Valley Town to find adventurers. The 174 villagers pooled their resources to raise 200 silver coins as commission, preparing to deal with the invading goblins before the harvest season officially arrived.
The young priest Misfield and a hunter from the village, being two of the three strongest men in the village, were responsible for delivering the commission to River Valley Town.
Unfortunately, the two had barely set off when they were ambushed by goblins on the mountain path.
The goblins who coveted the settlers' village were more cunning than the villagers had anticipated!
The hunter died while covering the young priest's retreat, and the young priest would have died in the pursuit if not for Loki's rescue.
"We've already killed over a dozen goblins. Should we continue to go to River Valley Town to ask for adventurers?" Loki couldn't help but ask.
If the young priest made a request, he wouldn't mind helping Riverdale get rid of those goblins.
After all, his Emperor's Banner was already starving!
Two hundred silver coins is a considerable fortune, and it will definitely come in handy in my future life in this other world.
"Although Mr. Loki's archery skills are superb, it would be too dangerous for him to take down three hundred goblins by himself."
"Misfield said softly."
"How many?"
Luo Qi was stunned for a moment.
"At least three hundred," Misfield sighed. "If there weren't so many goblins, the village chief would have already led his men to wipe them out!"
Goblins are not worthless monsters.
They could even be considered the economic backbone of the adventurer town of River Valley.
Although this creature's skin is thin and unsightly, adventurers love the leather armor and shoes made from its green skin.
Goblin meat is poisonous to humans, but it's perfectly fine for raising pack animals with high poison resistance. Of course, the price of this inferior meat is incomparable to that of high-quality meats such as beef, mutton, and pork; it's only slightly more expensive than grains.
Blood, internal organs, brain, bones... alchemists found something useful in all of the goblin's organs.
Adventurers can earn about one silver coin and fifty copper coins by hunting down an adult goblin.
The Adventurers' Guild would pay an even higher price for a goblin captured alive.
The hunters in the pioneer village often hunt lone goblins to supplement their income.