Clear blue skies stretched above them, with a bright, scorching sun hanging overhead.
Today, Team Four was heading to Juris Village.
Juris wasn’t a large village. Only around ten people lived there, but it was a convenient resting point for travelers before they continued their journeys.
As they approached, Qasim could make out the shape of the village in the distance.
He suddenly remembered Doran’s words from earlier.
The red dots are related to fate...
Qasim turned toward him.
"Doran, what exactly did you mean when you said the artifact might be related to fate?"
Doran looked at him with bright eyes.
"Well, artifacts related to fate usually mean they were created to change the fate of their creator or their user!"
Qasim’s mouth dropped open in surprise.
Doran’s smile widened when he saw the boy’s reaction.
He raised a finger.
"Want to know how and where artifacts come from?"
Qasim nodded excitedly.
"Well, there are two types of artifacts: natural ones and those created by dwarves."
Doran paused for a moment, thinking about how to explain it.
"What I mean is, there are artifacts found in supernatural places, like the dungeon we went to. And the people responsible for finding them are adventurers!"
Qasim moved his hand up and down excitedly.
"Are those the people who risk their lives inside dangerous and mysterious places, wear hats, and use whips as weapons?"
Doran raised an eyebrow.
"I don’t think they wear hats or use whips, but yes, those are adventurers!"
He continued enthusiastically.
"Once they return with artifacts, they usually sell them to dwarves. The dwarves then study those artifacts to reproduce them or, even better, create entirely new ones!"
Qasim smiled happily.
Not because of the information.
But because today, he was seeing a side of Doran he had never noticed before.
"You really love artifacts, huh?"
"I can let you use it now if you want..." Qasim said as he pulled off the sphere.
Doran suddenly stopped talking and raised his finger.
"No, don’t use it now because these kinds of artifacts need to charge even after one use, so please hide it back."
He said as he watched Qasim puff out his cheeks and hide the artifact again, then Doran turned his head away before answering Qasim’s previous question.
"Well, I do like artifacts... just a little bit. After all, my parents were adventurers."
"Wow, that’s so cool!" Qasim said excitedly.
Doran noticed his reaction and once again felt the desire to continue teaching the ignorant kid.
"Yes, they were amazing. And even more impressive, they somehow managed to balance their work with being parents. My brother and I grew up in a perfectly happy home."
Doran’s smile weakened.
His eyes lowered toward the ground.
"Until they died because of that job one day, leaving us to take care of ourselves."
Qasim’s smile faded.
"I was ten, and my brother was seventeen. Fortunately, we had saved a lot of money, so we decided to become traders. We bought undervalued artifacts and resold them."
Doran smiled faintly.
"We managed to live like that for years and even built a name for ourselves."
His expression slowly became distant.
"Then, when my brother turned twenty-five, he met a girl. They fell in love and were preparing to get married."
His voice suddenly became colder.
"But..."
Qasim looked at him.
"Some of our competitors saw it as the perfect opportunity to blackmail us. They kidnapped his girlfriend, thinking my brother would obey their demands."
Doran’s hands slowly clenched.
"They even bribed the police so they wouldn’t interfere."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Little did they know... he was just as bold as our mother."
Doran clenched his fist.
"He rushed to that place and fought them."
His voice became quieter.
"But in the end, he and his girl died in each other’s arms."
Qasim remained silent throughout the entire story, listening with a sympathetic expression.
Doran glanced at him from the side before slightly speeding up his pace.
"So yeah, I like artifacts."
He paused.
"And by the way, don’t tell anyone what you heard. Not a single soul."
"I won’t..." Qasim nodded then he asked something else.
"By the way, there was a piece of paper with the artifact... What is it used for?"
Doran raised his eyebrow.
"It usually comes to clarify when, where and who created it. "
"Oh..." Qasim scratch his head.
"Well, the paper just had the creator name."
Doran smiles in excitement.
"Really? who?"
Qasim smiles back before answering.
"His name is Osly, do you know him?"
Doran shake his head saying no.
"I see... Well thank you! I had so much talking with you." Qasim said with a smile as he watched the big man walk ahead of him.
...
Upon reaching the village, the team began looking around for any hidden goblins.
Except for Valen.
He was searching for something else—something unknown to the others.
They didn’t think much of it.
The team talked with the locals and searched every corner of the village. After nearly an hour of searching, they concluded that there were no goblins hiding there.
"S-So... should we go deeper into the Goblin World now?" Levia asked uncomfortably.
Valen lowered his hand and began thinking, his brow furrowed.
*Nothing... What did you find here, Nasun...?*
While the others were relieved that there were no goblins in the village, Valen was puzzled.
What had been here the day Nasun came?
*Unless I’m misinterpreting the documents... Maybe the problem wasn’t the village itself. Maybe it was related to the mission.*
Valen narrowed his eyes.
*The documents mentioned that the mission was about strange roots attacking travelers.*
He looked around.
There wasn’t a single sign of roots anywhere.
*The only thing that could be related to those roots is...*
Valen raised his head.
His eyes landed on the forest behind the village.
A zone owned by the Goblin World.
"Valen, did you hear me?"
Levia poked him with her staff.
Valen suddenly turned toward her, surprising her.
"Yes, Levia."
He pointed toward the forest.
"We’ll continue deeper into the Goblin World from there."
...
Upon entering the forest, the team walked randomly for some time.
Then something changed.
"We’re being watched..."
Yasmin’s voice was cold.
The others continued acting normally, but they repeated her words in their minds.
They didn’t speak.
They simply kept walking.
But each of them already knew what they had to do.
After walking in a circle twice, the entire team suddenly turned around.
Yasmin pointed toward the enemies.
"Two on the ground behind us. Two in front. And one in the trees."
Without hesitation, she jumped high into the air to deal with the one hiding in the trees herself.
The others immediately formed a formation.
Doran and Levia took the front while Qasim and Yasmin covered the back.
The enemies were goblins.
They were just as shocked by Team Four’s reaction.
Qasim released several wind slashes, cutting down trees and clearing Yasmin’s path while also giving himself a better view.
He finally got a clear look at the goblins.
His expression changed slightly.
*They’re only First Step?*
Qasim immediately used Light Dash.
In an instant, he appeared in front of them and released an electric shockwave.
The two goblins had no chance.
Their bodies convulsed as they collapsed onto the ground, twitching.
Yasmin landed beside Qasim with another Mahik goblin in her grasp.
Before either of them could ask anything, a frightened voice came from behind them.
"STOP!"
One of the goblins standing in front of Doran and Levia raised his hands.
Qasim frowned.
"I thought goblins were brave and wouldn’t surrender."
"Yeah. That’s what normally should happen..."
Valen stepped forward, his eyes narrowing with interest.
"This is interesting."
He looked at the goblin.
"Who are you, and why were you following us?"
The goblin opened his mouth wide and began speaking rapidly.
"We’re from the Fifth Division! We were just doing our task by watching the border of our kingdom!"
He took a deep breath before continuing, his voice louder this time.
"You are strong and good humans, right? Five humans! One big bald man, one long brown-haired woman who covers her eyes, and the other three..."
His eyes moved across the team.
"I recognize you too!"
"W-What are you talking about?" Doran asked. "How do you supposedly know us?"
"My master told us about you!"
Valen raised an eyebrow.
"And who is your master?"
The goblin swallowed.
Then, with confidence, he answered.
"The leader of my division..."
He paused.
"Master Zyra!"
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