Alexander entered the forest at night. Luckily, he had a pair of night-vision goggles in his belongings. They were just ordinary goggles that allowed a wizard to infuse some mana into them to see in the dark. This was possible even without the goggles, but since Alexander was currently weak, he needed them.
After some walking, Alexander found a group of goblins gathered around a fire. He focused and said, "1, 2, 3, 4! Four goblins gathered, three with swords and one wizard. I might not be able to defeat them now, but I should give it a try..."
Upon closer inspection, Alexander noticed that these goblins had magical torches, meaning if the wizard goblin was killed, the others wouldn't be able to see in the dark.
Alexander sneaked up behind the goblins as he used to do in his past life as a warrior, approaching from behind and delivering a powerful blow before the enemy knew what hit them.
Alexander stabbed the wizard goblin, causing it to scream. Before the other goblins could react, they found the torches extinguished, indicating the wizard's death.
"They seem confused now, but I need to finish them off. From what I've read, despite their weakness and low intelligence, goblins are quick to use their noses."
Alexander infused a bit of magic into his feet, jumped over a bush, and then leaped onto one of the sword-wielding goblins, splitting its head in half. One of the goblins screamed at Alexander, indicating it had spotted him.
"It seems I can't hide any longer. I need to remember what I learned in my past life and make this body keep up."
Despite saying this, Alexander's body was relatively weak, making it difficult to keep up with traditional swordsmanship. He gripped his sword tightly and focused on the goblin screaming at him. Sensing the goblin's randomness, he concentrated some magic into his hands. When the goblin got within half a meter, he said, "Fire," and small flames emerged from his hands, burning the goblin's face.
"Raaaghhh!" The goblin screamed from the burns. Although it was a weak spell, it was enough to deal with creatures with low endurance. Before the fire on the goblin's face extinguished, Alexander thrust his sword into the goblin's throat, then pulled it out, and the goblin fell to the ground. "Three down, wait, there's another one—" Alexander thought as he felt an arrow pierce his side.
"Aagh!" Alexander screamed in pain and looked at the arrow. "It seems like one of the goblins lagged behind the group. Damn it."
Alexander was now in a vulnerable position, with a goblin archer in the distance and another goblin with a sword approaching. Determined, Alexander gripped his sword tighter and deflected the incoming arrow. The goblin archer was shocked, and the other goblin swung its sword sideways. Alexander ducked and struck the goblin's heart, killing it. The goblin archer, sensing danger, tried to flee but found a sword piercing its leg.
The goblin tried to crawl away. Goblins usually flee when they sense danger. Alexander laughed, "Ha ha ha, what are you running from, goblin? Did weak Alexander scare you?"
The goblin looked up and saw Alexander standing over it. The goblin said, "Argh, finger crook crook." Alexander replied, "Really, you poor thing!" and slit the goblin's throat.
"It's unfortunate I didn't understand what it was trying to say, but it seemed important. Anyway, I need to search for their valuable items now. Ugh," Alexander felt the pain and started searching the goblins' belongings.
"Ha ha ha, I didn't expect some goblins to have mid-level first-rank magic stones and some magical and healing potions. This is quite a haul."
Alexander drank the healing potion, and all his injuries healed. He was astonished, "This is amazing! From what I've read in the books of this world, there are even potions that can revive the dead, but their price is no less than a kingdom or even an empire."
Alexander took all the items and put them in a spatial bag given to him by Leonard. He even placed the low-level wizard's staff in the bag and took the goblin monsters' cores, as all magical creatures have a core that gathers their magical power, similar to a dantian. Alexander carefully extracted the core near the wizard goblin to avoid damaging it and carried himself to a cave to sleep for a while.
Alexander found a good cave and stayed there until dawn. He woke up feeling hungry, took out some meat from the spatial bag, and started eating. After finishing, he took out all the magic stones and placed them in front of him, then began absorbing them. Alexander felt some strength permeate his bones and noticed his magical power increasing significantly. Although the mid-level first-rank magic stones weren't very powerful, they were enough for Alexander to advance.
Alexander felt a breakthrough and then consumed the wizard goblin's core while absorbing the magic stones. In a moment, a small flash appeared from Alexander, indicating his breakthrough to the mid-level first rank.
"Good, I can now feel the difference between being a low-level first-rank wizard and a mid-level first-rank wizard. I feel my dantian has become five times what I used to store in the low-level first rank."
Alexander took his belongings and went to fight more monsters. He found an ordinary goblin carrying a staff. Alexander said lightly, "It seems I'm lucky to find a new challenge after my breakthrough." Alexander shouted at the goblin, which charged at him. Alexander closed his eyes and said, "Firestorm."
Fire emerged from Alexander's hand, but this time it was larger and stronger, reaching over six meters. The goblin burned instantly and could only breathe with difficulty. Alexander finished it off and was about to leave when he felt a strong pressure from afar.
After Alexander's advancement, his senses became sharper, and he could feel the slightest magic around him. He approached the source of the magic and hid in the bushes. He found a clearing filled with dead goblins and wolves.
To his right, he saw a powerful orc fighting some magical wolves, some of which were low-level first rank and others mid-level first rank. Despite its injuries and decapitated head, the orc was still moving.
Looking further, Alexander saw a high-level first-rank goblin wizard controlling the orc and another orc. Alexander thought, "It seems these goblins were killed by one of the powerful wolves, and this goblin wizard found them and used their buried hatred to animate them with some demonic magic techniques."
"It looks like this battle is nearing its end, but what are they fighting over?" Alexander saw something shining in the middle of the clearing. "Impossible! Is that a magical scroll?" Magical scrolls are like spell books but contain skills and abilities never discovered before. They appear due to the magical nature of their origin, and their appearance is rare.
"This scroll seems to contain at least low-level second-rank techniques! Now I understand why these wolves and this wizard are fighting to the death, even if it means burning their essence. This scroll is an achievement for whoever possesses it, allowing them to advance stronger, faster, and with better techniques!"
The battle was on the edge. One orc fell, and it seemed the goblin wizard couldn't reanimate it because he had little magic left, enough to control only one orc. Orcs are much larger than ordinary goblins, and it's not an exaggeration to say that one orc can kill 100 goblins in a few minutes.
The other orc fell, and the goblin wizard was in a disadvantageous position, but the magical wolves were also in bad shape, with only three injured wolves left, barely having any magic left.
The goblin wizard chanted some spells, and the magical wolves fell dead. "Is this mental manipulation? Mental manipulation is a powerful ability possessed only by those at the second rank, and they are few. It seems this goblin was indeed lucky to find a technique that allows mental manipulation at this level."
The goblin wizard staggered towards the magical scroll, his level weakened due to burning his essence. Despite the risk of losing his life, it seemed worth it to see his happiness. But as they say, don't judge a book by its cover, and not all endings are happy.
The goblin wizard grabbed the scroll in joy and hugged it proudly. Not a second passed before he saw blood dripping on the ground. He looked at his chest...
He found a sword had pierced his heart. The high-level first-rank goblin wizard fell to the ground and died.
"It's good he thought no one would interrupt his final romantic moments. Because he burned his essence, I no longer need him. Burned essence is like a piece of overcooked meat, impossible to consume. If he were at his full strength, I would have simply abandoned the scroll; defeating him would be impossible."
Despite his recklessness, Alexander had lived two lives and needed to think more rationally. If his opponent was stronger, he would naturally flee, and if weaker, he would simply eliminate them.
Alexander put the scroll in his spatial bag, took all the magical cores and other important items he needed, and left, knowing that soon many monsters would gather in the area...