Outside the goblin settlement, hidden within the ancient forest beneath the shadow of Skypeak Mountain, Evan remained perfectly still.
His grip tightened around Crimson Edge, its tip aimed directly at a rustling bush only a few steps away.
His muscles were taut.
His breathing had nearly disappeared.
Even with Nightstep concealing his presence, something had managed to approach within striking distance.
That alone was enough to put him on edge.
The leaves parted.
Evan's sword twitched.
Then...
His expression relaxed.
The killing intent faded from his eyes.
"...Oh?"
For the first time since entering the Trial...
The creature before him wasn't a goblin.
A tiny forest mouse cautiously stepped out from the bushes, its whiskers twitching as it sniffed the air.
Evan quietly lowered his sword before storing it away.
A drawn blade reflected moonlight far too easily.
Any unnecessary attention here could cost him his life.
He turned his focus back toward the goblin settlement, continuing to study the guards' patrol routes.
However, something felt wrong.
The mouse... hadn't moved.
Ordinary forest rodents fled the instant they sensed a human.
Yet this one simply stood there.
Watching him.
Without blinking.
Evan slowly turned his head.
The mouse was still staring at him.
Its tiny eyes were unusually fixed.
Almost...
Intelligent.
It wasn't looking at him like prey looked at a predator.
It was observing him.
As though another consciousness hid behind those tiny eyes.
A chill quietly ran down Evan's spine.
"That's not natural..."
He crouched slightly and extended a hand toward it.
The instant he moved...
The strange gaze vanished.
The mouse suddenly panicked, letting out a terrified squeak before turning to flee exactly like an ordinary beast.
Too late.
A thin earth spike erupted silently from the ground.
Pfft.
The spike pierced straight through the tiny body.
The mouse died instantly.
A notification appeared.
Evan's face immediately darkened.
[You have slain Lv.2 Beast: Rock Mouse (Tamed).]
[No EXP gained.]
His heart skipped a beat.
Without sparing the corpse another glance, Evan instantly activated Nightstep and vanished into the darkness.
He didn't stop.
Five hundred meters...
One kilometer...
Only after creating sufficient distance did he finally slow down.
His eyes swept across every tree branch.
Every bush.
Every shadow.
"A tamed beast..."
"So I wasn't imagining it."
There were no other intelligent races in this section of the Trial.
No humans.
No elves.
No adventurers.
Only the Grimbark Goblins.
And among them...
Only one individual possessed the ability to command lesser creatures over such distances.
The Shaman.
Evan narrowed his eyes.
"That wasn't just a random scout..."
"It was one of his eyes."
If the shaman had truly been observing through that mouse...
Then his location had already been exposed.
At the center of the goblin settlement...
Inside the largest wooden structure...
A massive stone brazier burned with eerie green flames, filling the dim chamber with flickering shadows.
An old goblin stood before it, leaning on a twisted wooden staff.
Unlike ordinary goblins, dark emerald markings covered his shrivelled skin like living vines.
Small beast skulls and dried bones hung from his waist, swaying gently as he moved.
His cloudy eyes slowly opened.
A cruel smile spread across his wrinkled face.
"So..."
"A little rat managed to survive."
The faint connection inside his mind had vanished.
His scouting familiar had died.
Not from an accident.
It had been killed deliberately.
The old goblin let out a raspy chuckle.
"The human noticed..."
He tapped his staff lightly against the ground.
The green flames inside the brazier rippled.
Although the familiar had died before transmitting a clear image, it had delivered enough.
A survivor still wandered the forest.
That alone was sufficient.
His expression gradually turned cold.
"The Lord ordered that no witnesses remain before his arrival..."
"If one escapes..."
"The entire settlement answers for it."
The memory of his master's wrath caused even the old shaman to shiver.
Then...
His smile slowly returned.
"But..."
"A living human..."
"That may be worth far more than a corpse."
Humans rarely entered this part of the forest.
Capturing one alive could become an offering.
Perhaps even earn him additional favour from the Lord.
With that thought, the shaman walked outside.
Several armoured goblin warriors immediately knelt.
The shaman raised his staff and pointed toward the forest.
"An intruder is hiding nearby."
"Spread out and search every trail."
"If you find him..."
"Break his limbs if necessary."
"But bring him back breathing."
A wicked grin stretched across his face.
"The one who captures him alive... will be rewarded personally by me."
The warriors' eyes lit up.
They roared in excitement before rushing into the forest.
Within moments, dozens of patrols began sweeping through the surrounding woods.
Yet...
None of them dared step beyond the narrow pass leading toward Skypeak Mountain.
Everyone in the settlement knew that place.
The Valley of Lightning.
Even veteran goblin warriors avoided it.
No beast claimed it.
No goblin settled there.
Anything entering that valley rarely returned alive.
Far away from the settlement...
Evan leaned against the trunk of a towering tree, silently checking his status.
His mana had almost recovered.
Not completely...
But enough to fight if absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, his regeneration had also been suppressed by the Trial's curse.
Otherwise, his enormous mana pool would've replenished several times faster.
His gaze drifted toward another panel.
[Selection Points: 0]
Only now did he truly appreciate how valuable those rewards were.
Without unlocking Nightstep, escaping the scouts would've been nearly impossible.
Strength meant nothing if he couldn't stay alive long enough to use it.
Just as he was considering his next move...
Voices echoed through the forest.
Branches rustled.
Footsteps multiplied from several different directions.
Evan's eyes sharpened instantly.
Without hesitation, Nightstep activated once more.
His figure melted into the darkness as he silently climbed into the dense canopy, disappearing among the leaves before the first goblin patrol arrived beneath him.
High above the forest floor, Evan remained hidden among the dense canopy.
His breathing was slow.
His heartbeat steady.
Even the slightest movement could expose him now.
Just as he expected, another goblin patrol soon arrived beneath his tree.
Unlike the scouts riding wolves, these were Goblin Warriors.
Their crude armour was pieced together from leather and bone, while rusted axes, clubs, and spears rested lazily on their shoulders.
Although their discipline was poor...
Their numbers made up for it.
Evan silently listened.
Thanks to the racial language copied by the Mask, every word now reached him with perfect clarity.
"...What do you think this intruder even is?" one warrior grumbled while kicking through a nearby bush.
"We already cleared every beast around this area days ago. Nothing should be stupid enough to come close."
Another goblin shrugged.
"Doesn't matter."
"The Shaman gave the order."
"We obey."
"Unless you want your skull hanging outside his hut."
The surrounding goblins instinctively fell silent.
Even speaking of the settlement's shaman seemed enough to make them uneasy.
A third goblin suddenly laughed.
"Stop whining."
"If we're the ones who catch the little rat..."
"The reward will be ours."
He pointed deeper into the undergrowth.
"You lot. Search over there."
The patrol immediately spread out.
Bushes were overturned.
Roots were kicked apart.
One goblin even glanced toward the upper branches.
Evan's muscles instinctively tightened.
Fortunately...
The thick leaves concealed him completely.
After several tense moments, the patrol eventually lost interest and moved on.
Only then did Evan slowly release the breath he had been holding.
His expression remained grim.
"Just as I feared..."
"The shaman knows someone survived."
"And now the entire settlement is hunting me."
He carefully observed the surrounding forest.
Five minutes.
That was all it had taken.
Within those five minutes alone...
Nearly twenty different patrols had crossed this section of the forest.
The search net was becoming tighter by the minute.
"Even with Nightstep..."
"Escaping normally isn't possible anymore."
Travelling on the ground would end with wolves catching his scent.
Travelling across the canopy wasn't much better.
The branches swayed with every jump.
Enough movement would eventually draw attention.
For several long moments...
Evan remained perfectly still, searching for an answer.
Nothing.
Every route carried enormous risk.
His eyes drifted toward his status panel once again.
He carefully reread everything available to him.
Then, his gaze froze.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"How did I overlook that..."
"This... might actually work."
A dangerous glint flashed within his eyes.
Several minutes later...
The quiet forest suddenly exploded into chaos.
"There!"
"I found him!"
A goblin warrior pointed excitedly toward the trees.
A cloaked figure had suddenly appeared between the undergrowth before immediately sprinting away.
The dark cloak...
The fleeing silhouette...
Even the height looked identical to the human survivor.
"It's the intruder!"
"Catch him!"
"Bring him back alive!"
The surrounding patrols instantly abandoned their search patterns.
War cries echoed throughout the forest.
Dozens of goblins rushed after the fleeing figure without waiting for further orders.
The entire pursuit force shifted in a single direction.
The figure stumbled between trees, desperately trying to escape.
A goblin warrior closed the distance first.
With a savage roar, he swung his heavy wooden club.
Bang!
The blow landed squarely across the figure's back.
A muffled cry escaped beneath the hood.
The cloaked target tumbled across the ground before collapsing face-first into the dirt.
"He got him!"
"Don't let him escape!"
Excited goblins piled onto the fallen figure from every direction, pinning it beneath their combined weight.
None of them noticed...
The body never struggled.
Never resisted.
It simply remained motionless beneath the pile.
The warriors erupted into loud cheers.
"We caught the intruder!"
"The Shaman will reward us!"
As the entire search party celebrated their success...
Far away...
Hidden within the silent canopy of another ancient tree...
Evan calmly watched everything unfold.
The corner of his lips lifted ever so slightly.
The bait...
Had worked perfectly.
__
A/N: Well, here I am, with yet another chapter post. Hope you all like it; I will try to post more frequently.