The night was at its peak, moonlight filtering through the dense branches and painting the grass in pale silver.
Hinata walked cautiously through the forest, one eye fixed on the system's map while the other remained on the road. Although he was technically focused on the path ahead, his mind wandered to the battle he had with Albedo.
The sequence of events replayed in his head several times. It was as though he were watching the battle again from a third-person perspective.
Gradually, he began to gain insight from the duel. It had been a rough fight, but his body still remembered his patterns, his movements, and his breathing throughout it. Even Albedo's fighting style was now etched into his mind.
He ran countless simulations in his head, thinking of ways he could have fought differently.
'Maybe if I had mana, things would be different.'
However, he couldn't shake the feeling that his clone trick wouldn't work again if he had mana. After all, it was precisely his lack of mana that made it impossible for Albedo to detect the real him.
Pushing those thoughts away, Hinata refocused on the task at hand. The red dots that had been far away were now only meters from him.
He crouched low and approached the edge of the dense forest slowly. The moment he pushed his head through the thick bushes, he saw a small clearing with shabby wooden huts and flickering torches.
He didn't need anyone to tell him what it was.
"A goblin village."
Looking closer, he noticed several goblins moving around within the main settlement, while two stood guard at the entrance.
Hinata studied the place for a moment longer. The village was surrounded by short wooden fences with spiked ends. Several tall watchtowers stood at different points, each occupied by a goblin.
Hinata knew sneaking into this place would be far more difficult than he had initially expected. And without getting inside, there was no way to feed the Fog Pill to anyone.
He withdrew his head from the bushes and sighed. "I don't want to spend extra time here."
He peeked out again… still no movement or stray livestock.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea formed in his mind. He quickly moved some distance away from the village and summoned his companion.
"Goku," he whispered, placing his hand over the dragon's mouth to keep it from speaking loudly. "Can you move physical objects?"
The dragon's gaze lingered on his hand before he gave a hesitant nod, not entirely sure why Hinata was asking.
Hinata grinned. From his dimension ring, he pulled out a sack and retrieved a stick of jerky.
The smell alone made him feel hungry, but he held himself back. He then took out the Fog Pill and wrapped the jerky around it, making it look as appetizing as possible.
After that, he pulled out several more sticks of jerky and folded them carefully, though the task proved a bit difficult with his gauntlet. Either way, he managed to make about twenty of them.
"Now, you have to carry these there," he said, pointing toward the village. "Find anyone who looks hungry and like an easy target, then drop it beside them."
Goku nodded as Hinata wrapped the jerky balls in a leaf. Without another word, he carried them and flew into the village through a lookout's blind spot.
Hinata had known goblins were crude, but never this meticulous. Still, he didn't wait for Goku to return with good news. He formed several clones and spread them around the village.
Once he finished, Goku flew back out of the village with a grin on his face. Seeing his expression, Hinata smiled.
'I guess having a dragon only I can see can be a good thing at times.'
"I'm done!" Goku said, nodding proudly.
"Nice job."
Hinata didn't indulge him further and instead focused as hard as he could, directing his attention toward the back of the village where the goblins' escape route lay.
His eyes glowed faintly as the image of a massive dragon appeared behind the village.
Hinata made the dragon raise one leg as he formed slime into a long, jagged spear. With a single motion, he launched it forward while making the dragon bring its foot crashing down toward one of the houses.
The moment the spear struck one of the huts, the projected dragon's foot slammed into it as well, making the goblins believe a calamity had descended upon them.
Hinata mentally counted to five. The moment his timer reached zero, screams and growls echoed through the forest.
Several goblins rushed out of their homes, some attempting to flee through the fence, but Hinata was… one step faster.
He raised his hand like a commander, sending his clones toward the fences.
Seeing this, the goblins abandoned the fences and rushed toward the front gate. However, even in the chaos, some still tried to attack the dragon, only to find themselves far weaker than usual.
So, in a desperate bid to survive, they all surged toward the gate.
Hinata smirked. He had used one of his treasures, but it was worth it.
He walked forward with the confidence of a king, positioning himself at the only path leading into the forest. The goblins that poured out of the gate came to a halt the moment they saw the human blocking their path.
They had created only one exit for their own safety—now it had come back to bite them.
Hinata lowered his stance, his fist raised. "Hey Goku, do you know what I call this strategy?"
Goku, hovering beside him with a smirk, shook his head. "What do you call it, Hina?"
Hinata's eyes gleamed with sly amusement. "I call this strategy… UNO reverse."
The goblins growled and lunged at him with killing intent.
Hinata placed his left hand over his clenched right fist. Drawing it back, he spoke calmly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
With a sudden burst, he thrust his fist forward, punching the air.
Wind rippled outward as the shockwave sent several goblins flying.
Ding!
[Class Awakening Mission]
Objective: Kill 100 goblins
Progress: 7/100
…
He lowered his hand as debris from his attack continued to scatter. He didn't even spare the panicked goblins a glance. His face was a mask of utter boredom, his eyes heavy-lidded, with the faintest smirk tugging at his lips.
"Let's get this Class Awakening over and done with."