The next day, Mark descended to the first floor again, intending to explore uncharted territories. He moved slowly and cautiously, trying to avoid combat. To pick up any movement, he kept Earth Sense active at all times. That was, until a familiar, low whistling sound reached his ears.
"Another sniper," Mark thought. He had begun calling any archer goblin that targeted him from outside his primary sense radius a "sniper." Deactivating Earth Sense, he swapped to Blind Sense and Air Sense. By then, the first arrow had already entered his detection range—coming from the 1 o'clock direction.
As he prepared to dodge, he suddenly froze. More whistling sounds filled the air; three more arrows appeared within his sense radius from 12, 10, and 9 o'clock. Distracted, Mark nearly took the first arrow, barely twisting his body out of its path at the last second. When the other three arrows closed in, he blasted them away with Air Repulsion.
Without hesitation, Mark fired a Stone Bullet toward 1 o'clock and sprinted toward 9 o'clock. As he ran, he launched consecutive stone bullets toward the 10 and 12 o'clock positions. However, he heard neither the agonized shriek of a goblin nor the thud of stone hitting flesh. There was only the dry crack of stone striking a hard object. "I missed," the cold realization crossed his mind.
As he ran, his sense radius picked up two goblins—the ones who had fired from 9 and 10 o'clock. They were hiding behind trees, nocking new arrows. Mark charged toward the tree at 9 o'clock. The goblin stepped out from cover and aimed; the distance was less than 2 meters. That was enough for Mark. Before the arrow could leave the bow, he closed the distance and delivered a powerful vertical strike with his staff. The force of the blow shattered the bow, the arrow, and the goblin's head alike.
But there was no time to breathe. The goblin at 10 o'clock had fired from just 7 meters away, and the arrow was dangerously close. Mark barely evaded it, closed the distance, and finished that goblin off as well. The same scenario repeated for the rest. Only after the fourth sniper was dead did Mark allow himself a deep sigh of relief.
"It's been a while since I felt such a brush with death," he told himself. Four archer goblins attacking simultaneously from sniper range... Individually, they weren't a threat, but combined, their numbers and coordinated effort had become a true danger.
"What's going on? Was this an ambush? Have the goblins targeted me specifically?" Mark wondered. Four archers alone weren't enough; had there been four Goblin Swordsmen coordinating with them, he would have had to consider a retreat. Most puzzling was his Earth Sense, which he had kept active. To set an ambush, they had to know his location in advance. If there were goblins around, he should have heard their footsteps. Is there a way to bypass Earth Sense? Or was this just a catastrophic coincidence?
Mark decided to return to familiar territory for the time being. Along the way, he encountered a goblin group with a familiar composition: one F-rank Goblin Swordsman and two G-rank goblins.
Previously, he had trained himself to keep Blind Sense and Air Sense active during combat. Now, he decided to maintain Earth Sense throughout the fight as well. This served both as a specialized training exercise and a precaution against another potential long-range ambush. Consequently, alongside his ever-present Mana Sense, he was now juggling four different senses simultaneously.
He decided to take a chance: if another long-range attack occurred, it would confirm that the previous ambush was no coincidence. If not, he could treat this as a simple stress test for his abilities. All three goblins spotted him and charged. The two G-rank goblins led the way, with the Goblin Swordsman bringing up the rear.
"The two grunts distract, and the swordsman finishes me off. Simple, but the best tactic in this situation," Mark noted. This time, he didn't rush to kill them. He engaged the G-ranks first, then moved on to the swordsman. Because he deliberately withheld his full strength, the goblins were able to recover quickly and surround him.
Mark focused on what had been his neglected area: group combat proficiency. While clashing with the Goblin Swordsman, he had to remain wary of the other two goblins' strikes. It was difficult at first. However, his active senses proved their worth in this exact scenario; he could perceive every goblin's position and movement with chilling precision.
After sufficient practice and seeing no signs of another ambush, the mental strain of maintaining four senses began to weigh heavily on his mind. Mark ended the fight with Air Repulsion and Stone Bullet. With that, he set his sights on returning to the Safe Zone.
Upon returning to the Safe Zone, the first thing Mark did was wash up. He truly appreciated this feature of the Safe Zone—the bath. Having constant hot water without ever worrying about utility bills was a genuine luxury. He placed the Blue Roses a bit further away; they might be poisonous, but their scent was undeniably pleasant. The ambiance helped him decompress and shed the weight of the day's combat.
Reluctant to leave the bath, Mark decided to meditate and enter his Inner World. When he opened his eyes within that vibrant realm, he found himself in the usual setting: a surreal blend of Thaddeus's and Mark's childhood homes.
"Should I learn a new spell?" he wondered. But nothing specific came to mind. He couldn't think of anything new that would directly address his current situation. Instead, he fell back on practicing his staple: Stone Bullet. His current focus was on combining the spell with Air Repulsion and attempting to imbue the bullet with a spiral motion.
His goal was practical: to increase his destructive power and penetration. He wanted to be able to take down goblins hiding behind trees—like today—or any high-defense, hard-bodied monsters he might encounter in the future.