Things had mostly returned to normal by the time Derek and Alex returned. When they walked into the camp, people were still avoiding him and wouldn’t make eye contact, but overall, it was a bit calmer.

  It didn’t take them long to find the rest of their team. They had been helping out in various ways. Alex also let the important people in the camp know they were leaving for a while. He also reminded them of their promise to get some dungeon runs in for themselves.

  Alex, Derek, Sam, Sarah, Korgrith, and Rykos went off into the forest, searching for some goblins to kill. They had seen a decline in the goblin numbers in the past 24-hours, but Alex was hoping they could find a large-sized group, or maybe even one of the two remaining Generals.

  Hours passed as the team hunted goblins. They circled the camp area, letting Derek lead. He had strong navigation skills and used them to craft an effective patrol pattern. Groups weren’t very common, but they did come across a few, though none were very large.

  The day passed quickly. They didn’t run into anything stronger than a commander, but at least they felt like the area near camp was relatively safe for now.

  The following morning, the party decided to venture further out. They hoped to find stronger fights, or maybe a general.

  I would definitely love to fight another one.

  They spent the next hour trudging through the forest, with only minor excitement. Smaller packs of goblins appeared, but it was nothing compared to them. All of them Bronze rank made the fights a joke. In the few groups they had seen, only one had a Commander.

  Alex pondered a moment and then offered his idea, “We could go towards the encampment where I first saw the goblins. They might still have a camp there. If not, we could at least investigate the mountain they lived near.”

  Derek shrugged. “I’m fine with that. I don’t see any other options.”

  The others agreed to the plan, with no better options, and they headed that way.

  With Alex’s wind enhancement, it only took an hour to arrive. Once they reached the edge of the forest, as usual, Alex went ahead of them and checked it out using stealth. But to his surprise, there were no goblins. The plains between the mountain and the forest were completely emptied. The only thing here was the burned wreckage Alex had caused before fighting the berserker general.

  After going back to let them know what he had found, they moved out onto the plains. The party felt exposed out there, compared to spending most of the last week inside the forest or caves. There was no movement or any sign of a goblin while moving towards the mountain.

  “This is weird. I feel like we definitely should have seen at least a few out here.” Alex said aloud. “Every time I’ve been out here, it was crawling with goblins. And that first or second day, I saw a bunch near this mountain.”

  “Maybe most are dead,” Rykos replied.

  “Hmm, maybe. It just feels weird. Maybe we’ll find some stuff when we get closer. I definitely wouldn’t mind finding some loot!” He said with a smile.

  Sam laughed. “You're like a loot goblin. Loot is always what you think about. Definitely as ugly as one too, so maybe you really are one.”

  Alex looked at Sam, narrowing his eyes.

  Before Alex could get his revenge, Rykos spoke up again. “I smell something. Something that isn’t dead goblins or burnt wreckage.”

  None of the others could smell anything other than the burnt debris, but a moment later, Korgrith agreed, saying he could smell something too.

  They both agreed, whatever the smell was, it came from the goblin encampment near the mountain.

  When they arrived at the encampment near the base of the mountain, they still hadn’t encountered a single goblin. It was eerily quiet. No sound heard except for their breathing and footsteps.

  The group took their time, searching through the camp, hoping to find some loot, well, Alex was, or supplies. Maybe even equipment for the people at their camp. They had continued pulling equipment from their Kobold dungeon, but they had hundreds of new people. It was going to take time to get gear for most of the fighters. It didn’t help that only one group could go into the dungeon at a time.

  “Did anyone find anything useful?” Alex asked when they regrouped.

  “Not really. The food was old, and the weapons and armor were of poor quality. Nothing was worth taking.” Derek replied.

  “Same for me,” Sam added.

  Everyone else responded the same. The goblins stripped the area of anything useful before they left.

  “Rykos, are you able to tell what direction the strange smell came from? We might as well check what it was.” Alex asked.

  “That way,” he replied, pointing up the mountain path.

  “Alright, let’s go see what’s up there.”

  Before they could make it a few steps, an announcement appeared.

  Event Update:

  The Fourth General has fallen.

  The Fortress General was slain by Mirai Kasumi and others.

  The final remaining General has been notified of their fellow generals' death and has become more aggressive.

  All goblins enter a frenzied state for the next ten minutes, and those not under the command of a general will become more aggressive permanently.

  All goblins have 50% increased experience gain.

  The final General has had time to bolster their army’s equipment and their own through the use of a dungeon.

  Generals slain 4/5

  Berserker

  Ranger

  Assassin

  Fortress

  Generals remaining 1/5

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  ???

  Good luck, gain power, and above all, survive.

  “One left,” Sarah mumbled, clearly having read over the announcement.

  “I was hoping we would be able to kill more of them. But I’m not sure if we will find the last one before it gets killed by others.” Sam said.

  “Hmm…. I agree. It would have been nice to fight them. They had decent equipment and some good experience for us.” Alex added.

  “Let us check this mountain. The smell grows stronger.” Rykos said, before he continued walking up the path.

  Even at a steady pace, it took them an hour to reach the top of the mountain path. They came upon a plateau, and on it sat another goblin encampment. This one was much larger than the other and was also empty. But the thing that caught everyone's attention was a massive pile of corpses.

  The bodies belonged to creatures and people of all types. Humans, beastkin, wolves, Kobolds, and larger bodies, they couldn’t identify.

  Sarah gasped and became sick at the sight, while Sam turned away from the sight, not wanting to look.

  The sight and smell were nauseating, and Alex struggled to comprehend the carnage before them. There were dozens of corpses piled on top of each other. Possibly over a hundred, but it was impossible to count. “Rykos, was this the smell?”

  “Yes. This is foul and overpowered everything else from here to the forest. There are many races and monsters here that I do not recognize, adding to the scent. But now that we are here, I smell something different and interesting, which reminds me of the Kobold dungeon underneath our cave. It is over that way.” He pointed towards the mountainside.

  “More Kobolds?” Derek asked as he walked over to check on Sarah.

  “No. I do not smell Kobolds. This scent reminds me of the dungeon itself. A distinct scent permeates the area around the entrance. I do not know why. This scent smells the same.” The wolfkin explained.

  “Yes, I am familiar with what you say,” Korgrith said, speaking to the group. “I remember the smell when we entered or exited that Kobold dungeon. It is very odd, but distinct. I do not smell it now, though, but that is to be expected. Rykos’s species of beastkin specializes in scent tracking, a skill that has earned them great respect. They are the greatest hunters of our kind.”

  Rykos straightened at the compliment, clearly proud of his heritage and skill. He turned and walked away from them. “Follow.”

  He led them towards the mountainside. The large goblin camp had rested on a plateau, facing the open air.

  I’m tempted to clear this out and build a camp up here; it's a nice spot. Easily defendable, too. But the idea of clearing this area off and those bodies... I don’t know.

  Walking along the mountainside, they came upon a large indent. As they drew closer, they noticed it was an entranceway. A perfectly shaped, large stone entrance, like a gate without a door.

  “The goblins definitely didn’t make this,” Derek said in awe of the large stone entrance.

  “Agreed. It is perfect. I see no flaws in the stonework at all.” Korgrith added.

  “It’s possible the Universal System created it. If that's the case, and Rykos said this smell is the same, there might be a dungeon inside.” Alex explained, feeling more and more sure that he was right.

  “Derek, do your tank stuff.” He said, motioning for Derek to take the lead.

  They walked into the entrance in a fighting formation. Healer and caster in the middle, with the rest surrounding them, and Derek in front.

  It took only a few seconds for them to see it. The shimmering curtain they had come to recognize as signaling the entrance to a dungeon.

  “Well, would you look at that, there was a dungeon here. Are we ready to go check it out?” He asked the team.

  Everyone nodded their agreement, and he signaled Derek to lead on.

  When they stepped into the dungeon, Alex savored the feeling he always got when entering or exiting dungeons. The swirling, twisting darkness that covered him in a blanket of comfort. He loved it.

  The first thing they saw when they appeared was a mountain path in front of them, and then the dungeon notification:

  You have entered the dungeon -THE MOUNTAIN TOP-

  Recommended level 10

  “A Bronze ranked dungeon at the goblin camp? This must have been how they leveled their commanders and generals.” Alex reasoned, thinking aloud.

  “Alex, you want to do a quick scout ahead, see what kind of creatures we’re dealing with?” Derek asked..

  “Yep, good call. I’ll be right back.” Alex activated his stealth skill and headed towards the exit.

  We entered the dungeon atop the mountain plateau and appeared at its base. So it stands to reason that we have to fight our way up the mountain path, kill the monsters on the plateau, and the exit will be the same spot we entered from.

  Slowly, he ascended the mountain path. After a few minutes' walk, he came across the first monster. It was a large creature, maybe close to ten feet tall, with gray skin, a bit fat, mostly naked except for a loincloth, and it had a giant wooden club.

  By the time the creature's information appeared, he had already guessed what it was. Turned out he was right:

  Mountain Troll (Level 10)

  Mountain trolls are a variation of the troll species that live in hard, mountainous regions. Their exterior resembles rock, providing additional camouflage and underscoring their toughness. Skin as hard as rocks and high regeneration make mountain trolls formidable foes.

  Why couldn’t it be fluffy bunnies or something? While the new me enjoys fighting, I’m not looking forward to getting hit by a damn troll. He made his way back towards his friends.

  “It’s a damn Mountain Troll. Bronze rank. Big, ugly, and strong.” Alex said to them, then read them the mountain troll description the system had given him.

  “They sound tough. Tough skin and high regeneration, plus their strength and probably a high health pool.” Sam said to them.

  “True. We don’t know for sure unless we try, but I remember seeing in games and books that trolls were weak to fire, and it slowed their regeneration. So that might be worth trying. Logically, it would make sense if it's true, fire would definitely be difficult to heal.” Alex added.

  “Oh yeah, I remember hearing that too,” Sam replied.

  “Was it alone?” Derek asked.

  “Yeah, I could only see one. Though I’m sure the higher we go up the path, the more we will see.”

  “If it's only one, let’s go try it. We should be fine with that.”

  “I was thinking the same.”

  It didn’t take long for the party to reach the troll. Standing around the turn, so it couldn’t see them, they prepared to attack.

  Derek led the attack, and everyone followed him up the path. When it spotted them coming, it roared and ran towards them with large lumbering steps, its giant club raised high.

  When in range, he immediately activated his [Charge] skill, rushing headfirst at the large monster. It brought the club down on him, but Derek simply raised his shield above his head, planning to test the troll's strength. When the blow came down on him, the sound thundered off the mountainside. The strike would easily turn lesser foes into pulp.

  But Derek? He only slid back a few centimeters, feet sinking into the ground from the weight of the blow, and remaining upright. Alex could tell the attack had hurt him, but he took it, which was the point of the test. If their slower front-line shield user couldn’t withstand an attack, they needed to know.

  This also told them that no one on their team could take a blow from it. Even Korgrith, with his new stone armor skill, wouldn’t escape unscathed.

  The next test was the troll's toughness and regeneration.

  Rykos and Alex, both using their individual speed enhancement skills, ran past Derek after the next strike came down. They slashed out at the troll, testing their sword and claws to see if they caused damage. These were basic strikes, no skills or enhancements.

  The damage was non-existent. The attacks made a sound of metal scraping stone, leaving no visible damage on the troll. It didn’t even react to their attacks.

  “Skills,” Alex called out, giving Rykos the signal. They had discussed a small plan before the fight began. While Derek held its attention, they both were to test the troll. If basic attacks failed, they would try a skill.

  Alex used wind enhancement on his sword, while Rykos used some enhancement of his own that caused his body to give off a dark red glow. Alex had seen this skill once before. It seemed to sharpen his fangs and claws, while boosting his strength and speed. Similar to a berserker skill, but Rykos remained in control. It just enhanced his natural beastkin traits.

  They both attacked the troll again, this time with an enhanced strike.

  Alex’s sword cut deeply into the troll, its tough skin not stopping his wind enhanced blade. This time, the troll definitely reacted. It howled in pain, reeling from the unexpected blow as it stared at the bleeding wound.

  Before it could do anything else, Rykos had struck. He used another ability– but this one Alex hadn’t seen. His claws glowed a brighter red, and when he slashed the troll in the back, the claw marks were larger and gouged out a chunk of troll flesh. The wounds also bled more than usual and were tinged with a darker red, clearly doing something else to the wounds.

  Interesting attack. I’ll have to ask him about that skill later. Alex thought while he backed away. They wanted to wait and see how well the troll healed from the attacks.

  It didn’t take long before they saw how well the troll could heal.

  “Well… that's not good.” He heard Sam say from behind him. He and Korgrith had stayed out of the fight so far and were waiting for their turn. Korgrith was too slow to join their attack, and Sam was going to be using his fire very soon.

  The troll had mostly healed from his wounds already. It had only taken twenty seconds for the wound Alex gave it to heal. The one from Rykos was taking much longer, though.

  “Sam, get ready. When we open the wounds again, throw some fire into the area Rykos attacks. I’ll do my own.”

  “Roger that, bossman.”

  We need to finish it soon. Derek won’t be able to keep taking these attacks head-on. Sarah is keeping him up, but it won’t last.

  Alex and Rykos moved in for round 3. They used the same attacks as before. Alex cut deep into the troll's thigh with his wind enhanced blade, and Rykos slashed open its side with his claws.

  Immediately after Rykos’ attack, Sam had three fireballs hit the same spot. While Alex did the same with his sword wound.

  Next time, I’ll try fire enhancement on my sword. But I don’t know if it’ll cut deep enough.

  When both attacks hit with the fire, the troll's response was instant and much more reactive than last time.

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