The carriage moved forward continuously from night until the evening of the next day before finally stopping.
Takeru and the others arrived at a forest. Since Zagros Village had no contact with the outside world for years, even the people of this world didn't know its exact location. This area was simply the closest region.
After bidding farewell to the merchants, Takeru and the others entered the forest.
With his Observation Haki active, Takeru quickly sensed abnormalities in the vicinity.
The mana concentration in the forest was much denser than elsewhere, and the monsters here were considerably stronger than in ordinary areas.
"Head that way." Soon, Takeru sensed people living not far away and pointed in that direction.
"Yusuke, Kusue, Glenda, and Keita, you take the lead clearing the path. Iu and Yuka, be responsible for vigilance and protecting everyone." Looking at the pathless forest, Takeru spoke to them.
"Yes!" Hearing Takeru's words, everyone paused, then nodded.
Subsequently, everyone advanced into the forest. They used their longswords or spears to cut down the obstructing branches. Besides this, they also had to endure the gravity Takeru had applied to them.
Since Takeru knew the exact direction, although their progress was slow, they steadily shortened the distance.
After about two hours of walking, everyone felt extremely exhausted. At the same time, they finally encountered their first goblin.
"That is..." Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar goblin, Glenda became vigilant.
"Don't you all come over. I'll handle this small fry alone." Seeing the goblin, Keita, who had been tirelessly clearing the path, perked up excitedly.
"Monopolizing experience points, how stingy." Hearing Keita's words, Yuka muttered.
"I won't remove the gravity." Hearing his words, Takeru said calmly.
"Eh, I understand. But it's just one goblin." Hearing Takeru's words, Keita paused, then spoke arrogantly again.
Seeing his confidence, Takeru didn't warn him further. These goblins, surrounded by high-concentration mana, had evolved. Underestimating them would only lead to capsizing in a ditch.
"Ahhh!"
Shouting loudly, Keita raised his spear and charged at the goblin.
Hearing Keita's shout, the goblin reacted, noticing this uninvited guest. Without hesitation, it leaped high, also shrieking.
Noticing the goblin's speed, Keita, mid-charge, froze, then stopped dead.
Then, the goblin landed directly before him and thrust its club straight through his stomach. Keita promptly collapsed.
"That idiot." Watching Keita die so abruptly, Yusuke said helplessly.
He then raised his longsword and charged at the goblin, with Kusue closely following. Yuka and Iu initially wanted to provide magical support, but Takeru stopped them.
After all this training, if they needed to gang up on a single enhanced goblin, it would be too embarrassing, even under gravity suppression.
As for Hachiman and Mio, they also sensed something was off. Although their detection abilities weren't as strong as Takeru's, the goblin's movement just now revealed its abnormality.
"Ah!" Kusue shouted, swinging her longsword at the goblin. But with the gravity Takeru had applied and her exhaustion from the journey, her speed was too slow. The goblin easily dodged.
After that single swing, she was already gasping for breath.
Seeing Kusue full of openings, the goblin prepared to attack. But at that moment, Yusuke's assault arrived. He slashed directly at the goblin, which sensed the danger and blocked with its weapon.
Seeing the goblin block his attack, Yusuke was momentarily stunned. Recovering, he kicked it, sending it flying.
After this, Yusuke also gasped heavily. He had worked the hardest clearing the path and was now exhausted.
The goblin, kicked away, quickly stood up. Rubbing the spot where it was kicked, it glared at Yusuke with fury.
"Strange, this is just an ordinary goblin, right? The small fry type?" Watching from the sidelines, Yuka said curiously.
"Theoretically, yes. But its speed and power are weird." Hearing Yuka's words, Iu frowned.
As the two wondered, the goblin drew closer to Yusuke Yotsuya. Yusuke barely raised his longsword, aiming at the goblin.
At the critical moment, while the goblin's attention was completely on Yusuke, Glenda had quietly approached the goblin. Timing her moment, she came up behind it and swung her axe at its neck.
Struck by Glenda's axe, the goblin fell to the ground with no chance of survival.
"I see. So this is what it feels like." After killing the goblin, Glenda savored the sensation of blade meeting flesh, speaking calmly, showing no fear.
"Somehow I feel a bit embarrassed." Watching the valiant Glenda, Iu couldn't help saying.
"Glenda-san has considerable talent and ability." Watching Glenda's performance, Mio was somewhat surprised.
At this moment, a minute had passed, and Keita sat back up.
"Instant death, how pathetic." Looking at Keita, Yuka mocked.
"Hey, are goblins this strong?" Hearing Yuka's words, Keita chose to ignore her.
"Indeed." Hearing Keita's words, Kusue agreed.
"If it were an elite monster in a game, I could understand." Yuka instinctively thought of elite monsters in games.
"Threat level D!" At this moment, Yusuke exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Hearing Yusuke's words, Glenda looked at him curiously.
"I used my Chef skill to check this guy's stats." Hearing Glenda's inquiry, Yusuke quickly replied.
"Is that strange?" Hearing this, Glenda inquired curiously.
"Yes. Normally, this type of goblin has the lowest threat level, F-. But this one has D-level threat." Hearing Glenda's inquiry, Yusuke explained again.
"It's simple. The mana concentration here is several times that of the outside world. Under these conditions, the goblins have been enhanced. Of course, if you use magic, you'll also find your own spells amplified." Hearing Yusuke's words, Takeru said calmly.
"I see." Hearing Takeru's words, everyone paused, then nodded in understanding.
"And you there, peeking for so long. Time to come out." Subsequently, Takeru looked toward a patch of grass.
Hearing Takeru's words, everyone looked where he was gazing. The person in the grass seemed startled and quickly fled.
"Should we catch her?" Hachiman looked at Takeru and inquired. He had also sensed the girl's presence.
"Let's follow and see the situation first." Hearing his words, Takeru calmly shook his head.
Seeing this, everyone nodded and walked in the direction the girl had fled. Before long, Takeru and the others passed through the forest and arrived at a small hillside area. Here, countless wooden stakes were inserted into the ground...
"Is this a cemetery? It looks quite old." Looking at the scene, Glenda was stunned.
"There's a house over there." Subsequently, everyone looked curiously at a distant house.
"Let's go." Looking at the thatched hut, Takeru directly spoke.
As the door opened, illuminated by moonlight, everyone saw the girl trembling in the corner.
"She seems really scared." Seeing the girl's appearance, Kusue said quietly.
Noticing the girl's actions, Takeru narrowed his eyes and looked directly at Mio and Kusue.
"Mio and Kusue, you two go inside and calm her. Everyone else wait outside."
"Okay." Hearing Takeru's words, Mio and Kusue went inside.
As for Takeru and the others, they surveyed the surroundings outside. There was a freshwater source ahead, vegetable fields cultivated near the house, and fruit and animals in the forest not far away. Survival here wouldn't be too difficult.