As the goblin forced everyone back, seeing Haruhiro attempting a sneak attack, it fiercely threw its short sword at him, hitting his shoulder. Instantly, blood flowed...
"Ah!" Seeing an opportunity, the goblin fiercely pounced on Haruhiro in the moment the others were stunned, tightly choking his neck with both hands. For a moment, everyone forgot to help.
"Ah!" Feeling his life force fading and the pain, Haruhiro cried out, stabbing his dagger hard into the side of the goblin's head.
Suddenly suffering massive damage, the goblin showed pain, its hands involuntarily loosening Haruhiro's neck.
By then, Ranta reacted, rushing over and stabbing the goblin hard, using the momentum to pin it down.
Even so, the goblin wasn't dead. With sheer willpower, it stood up, ready to keep fighting. At that moment, Mogzo's greatsword finally struck down heavily on the goblin's head. Even with a helmet, the goblin finally fell...
"We did it!" Seeing this, Ranta raised his longsword excitedly.
Mogzo quickly went to Haruhiro, carefully removing the short sword from his body. Manato also hurried over to provide healing.
"Is this the spoils? Finally, to earn wais, a Dark Knight must finish its life, offering a part of its flesh to the altar!" Ranta took the spoils, flipped the goblin over, searching for which part to sacrifice.
However, while he hesitated, the goblin suddenly grabbed the short sword Mogzo had dropped, slashing Ranta in front of him, then tried to flee.
The situation was too sudden, so everyone was stunned. Ranta recovered first, charging forward, tackling the severely wounded goblin, snatching the short sword, and stabbing it repeatedly… once, twice, countless times. When he regained his senses, he saw the extremely gruesome corpse.
Looking at the blood on his hands, and the untold amount of goblin blood splattered on his face and clothes, he involuntarily trembled.
Only then did Takeru approach. Seeing him, everyone made way.
"Your performance was truly, truly abysmal." Takeru spoke without mercy.
Hearing Takeru, Manato, Haruhiro, and the others lowered their heads.
"Planning, attacking, coordination… none existed. Mistakes piled up..." Takeru began listing their errors...
Hearing the listed mistakes, the five hung their heads, silent, the joy of their earlier kill completely gone.
"I hope you realize: if elite goblins stood before you now, you'd be wiped out. Hunting isn't a game. Failure can cost lives. This is the first time, and I hope the last."
Takeru was strict with them because their mindset hadn't fully shifted. He didn't have time to go slowly, so naturally, he had to use strong medicine.
As for their resentment or disagreement, Takeru didn't care...
Takeru just needed to change their lives as much as possible, and their attitude towards him was secondary...
"Sorry, Takeru-san..." Hearing Takeru, Manato and Haruhiro apologized first...
"Your basics are weak, and your mindset hasn't changed. My time is limited. Today, you must hunt at least three more goblins." Takeru said seriously.
"Yes, we'll do our best!" Hearing Takeru, though feeling immense pressure, they quickly nodded.
Under Takeru's guidance, they soon found lone goblins. Through battles, they grew quickly.
Of course, there were side effects. Killing four goblins in one day took a huge toll on their minds, especially Ranta, who killed three. His eyes even seemed to lose their light.
Haruhiro killed the other one. Though also afraid, Haruhiro overcame the fear of killing better than Ranta.
Then, Takeru had them gather all spoils, took them to the market, exchanged them for silver coins. Including Takeru's earlier three kills, they earned twelve silver coins.
Takeru gave all the earnings to the five, letting them buy what they needed. Then he announced they could rest tomorrow before dismissing them and leaving.
Looking at the silver coins and Takeru's retreating figure, their feelings were complex. They didn't understand why Takeru helped them so much.
Takeru ignored them. After giving them some time, he needed to return to training. Within the Reincarnation World, he knew continuous self-improvement was most important, whether for himself or for protection...
Returning to the lodgings, Takeru saw the five sitting there enjoying delicious food.
"Takeru-senpai, dinner is ready. Come join us!" Seeing Takeru, Ui smiled happily.
"Sure!" Looking at Ui, Takeru smiled and nodded, joining them.
"So, how did it go today?" After Takeru sat, Mio asked curiously.
"Not bad." Seeing their curiosity, Takeru nodded.
Hearing Takeru, they seemed thoughtful.
"And you all? Did you train properly?" Suddenly Takeru looked at the four questioningly.
"Well..." Hearing Takeru, Yui laughed embarrassedly… clearly, she'd relaxed all day without much training.
"I practiced 'Spider' with Barbara-sensei today… a skill in ambush tactics." Ui said directly.
"I learned Hypnosis Shadow and Shadow Bind." Mio reported her achievements.
"I've mastered Gale Slash and Revenge Slash, and I newly learned Quick Thrust!" Tsumugi said elegantly.
"Is that so? Seems everyone worked hard. Oh, tomorrow we will head to the Cyrene Mine, so rest well tonight." Looking at everyone, Takeru announced the next day's plan.
"We understand." Hearing Takeru, the five nodded understandingly.
"What about Manato and the others?" Yui asked curiously.
"I told them to rest and adjust on their own. Of course, if they want to hunt, that's fine too." Hearing Yui, Takeru said casually.
Hearing Takeru, everyone nodded, no longer asking further, quietly enjoying the delicious food.
Soon, the next day arrived.
Everyone gathered early. Seeing their energetic states, Takeru smiled slightly. After breakfast, he led them towards the Cyrene Mine...
Soon, they reached the Cyrene Mine.
True to its name, it was a massive mountain structure. Its origin is that it is developed during the Arabianka Kingdom's border expansion, but after humans were expelled, kobolds occupied it.
Soon, Takeru's group reached the entrance and entered the mountain. Inside, though dim, special ore veins emitted faint light, and some dug-out areas let in brightness.
After adapting slightly, they could see fairly clearly inside...
As they advanced, they soon spotted kobolds. Though called kobolds, Takeru thought they resembled werewolves, very similar to wolves.
These kobolds mostly carried pickaxes. Takeru knew first-layer kobolds were the weakest, essentially kobold vagrants, with worn attire and skinny builds, generally called low-rank kobolds or lesser kobolds.