The area of the Frary [Fu’la’li] territory wasn’t considered big in the nine continents of the world of Balesta [Ba’lai’si’ta], but as the reproduction location of many races after the second Creation War, it caused Frary, which was titled was the first continent, to occupy an extremely high position in all of Balesta. It was because a large portion of the other continents’ domains were overwhelmed by monsters from an alien world.
Ever since the second Creation War, the Misty Forest gradually took shape at the north of Frary, near the lost continent of water. The climate of the Misty Forest was also colder than other areas because its position leaned to the north. Although the early summer’s wind brought scorching heat to the extreme south, it was still unable to change the continuous extreme differences in temperature for the forest.
Year round, dense mist lingered around this place, and at the same time, it was the closest land 280 nautical miles south-west to Brian Island, which was where Tom grew up from.
Tom Hoder [Tang’mu Huo’de’er]. The whiteness of his skin was as rich as the coconut milk on Brian Island, his eyes were like jet-black agate, his black hair had the lustre of silk, and despite the fact that his brown shirt was a bit ragged, when he wore it, there was still a type of prince-like noble air, and it seemed rather clean.
The priest called Tom, on the surface, seemed to have the age of an adult. His face was a bit pale-white, proving that he just experienced a battle that was neither big nor small. Out of consideration in raising his Holy Energy, Tom got off the boat and on the Misty Forest’s beach, he said his farewells to his friends, Roth [Luo’te] and Sophia [Suo’fei’ya], who were heading towards the center of the Frary Continent’s underground city’s Real Red Holy Temple to get a job change. Although a marriage agreement was once forced between him and Sophia, Tom only treated and looked at her as a very good friend, so at the end, the matter was just left alone.
Since yesterday, he started to fight against the monsters that surrounded the Misty Forest by himself to get a feel of the method for raising his Mind power. Tom planned to ride the boat back to Brian Island two days later. Of course, all of that could only happen when Tom’s father, Old Hoder, was completely at ease.
Walking on a bestial road that was a bit exaggeratedly big, and also without knowing what huge-shaped animal passed by in order to form it, Tom’s heart couldn’t help but be a bit worried. As he thought it was possible for him to face a huge-shaped monster that pressed out a bestial road like that, Tom also started to be cautious.
Compared to the safeness by burrowing into the thorny forest, naturally, there was a lot bigger risk in being attacked by monsters by walking in the open bestial road. Even if there were powerful monsters on the sides of the bestial road, which Tom admitted, but even more so, he did not want to suffer in the thorny jungle right now.
Due to the fact that he was a priest with only twenty-two Holy Energy Marks (Equivalent to rank two caster. Every ten Marks increases one rank.), in order to reach the job advancement requirement of thirty-one Marks, Tom still needed to endlessly challenge monsters to expand his Mind power.
Because of that, it was also one of the reasons why Tom dared to openly walk on the bestial road. With the total of Tom’s present twenty-two Holy Energy Marks, it caused him to be completely able to boldly walk in the Misty Forest’s outer circle.
Monsters like goblins were a bit stronger than slimes. Species like goblins existed in groups, and the difference in strength was in magic. After all, that species had a horrifying and astounding number in the entire continent. Rank one monsters: goblins. Rank two monsters: elite goblins. Rank three monsters: goblin casters and goblin warriors. Rank four monsters, elemental goblins. Rank five monsters, goblin kings.
“The speed of improvement for priests is truly too slow. Ahh, after the time of two years, the strength of those two people doubled, and Sophia even learnt the rank four magic for middle-rank summoners, Storm of Flames. I’m guessing that she will advance into an Elementalist right? I can’t be left behind either. An independent priest can only grow up in places of difficulty. This is truth that my father always mentioned me about… Of course, it’s also to get rid of always being teased as a house dad. That’s a very important reason as well.” Tom thought as he walked.
“I’ve been in meditation everyday for the past two years, yet I’ve only raised my Holy Energy by six Marks. I don’t even know when I can reach the job advancement condition of thirty-one Marks.”
After getting down the boat, he asked around. The highest battle power in the outer circle of the Misty Forest should only be rank three monsters, goblin casters and goblin warriors.
Walking on the bestial road, and roughly twenty minutes later, some soft sounds came from in front of Tom.
Enemy?
Tom slightly raised his head. Since it was the outer circle in which the highest monsters were only rank threes, he did not have any thoughts of evading. Right hand leaning on priest’s staff while standing on the bestial road, left hand starting to condense Holy Energy.
The bushes in front of him rustled and an almost hairless green head with some sinister eyes entered Tom’s line of sight.
Holy Light Strike!
Tom used his staff and pointed towards the bushes in front. Then, two rows of golden radiance formed a cross and slashed on the goblin’s body. It was a basic skill for priests, and it wasn’t even a rank one ability. The damage done to the monster corresponded to one’s own strength and the level of the caster, but it would not have any effects on the righteous organisms on the continent. From his Mind power, Tom felt a half of a golden-coloured Mark disappear.
“A single Holy Light Strike requires ten minutes of meditation to recover it back. Truly sad.” Tom couldn’t help but self-ridicule quietly.
The goblin walked out of the brushes and shook its head. Behind it, eight more also walked out, and obviously, Tom who had weak magic power and beginner spells didn’t cause too much damage to the goblin.
The goblin that Tom attack wore brass-coloured armor and looking at the texture, it should be made from Demonic Copper, and the goblins should be the leader of the small group of goblins, a rank two monster. “Gurgle, Makiugistyuha!” That goblin spoke some words that Tom didn’t understand, then the group of goblins charged towards Tom from fifty yards away. Clearly, it was an order that was very detrimental to Tom.
As Tom observed in detail, the other eight goblins didn’t wear armor so they should be normal goblins, who didn’t have too powerful attacks. Without hesitation, Tom poured the Holy Energy he was just pooling up in his left hand into the apex of the priest’s staff, in the Hyacinth Jade.
Holy Nova!
A wave of huge golden-coloured blur of light spread out in a circular shape with Tom as the center. The rank three spell Holy Nova drained four of Tom’s Holy Energy Marks, and that was even when two Marks were reduced because Tom used his accumulation of Holy Energy. However, the effect was still notable. Other than the elite goblin, the other eight goblins that were still raising little hatchets and charging towards Tom were engulfed by the golden-coloured radiance immediately as they touched the blur of light spread out by the Holy Nova. After being affected by it, they remained their charging stance like a wooden doll, and within one second, they fell with a poof and the hatchets in their hands also slid to the side. Their sinister eyes became dull, as if transcended into heaven, yet also as if they entered the hell’s purification pool
Without obstruction, the golden-coloured radiance spread out for roughly seventy yards before gradually fading away.
After the little goblin leader was struck by the golden-coloured radiance, it seemed to be slightly dizzy. Both of its hands were covering his head and it had a very painful expression. Looking at it, it should have suffered heavy injuries. The small goblin group that was almost annihilated just as it appeared let the elite goblin know that he wasn’t a human who was fun to anger, so as it yelled out strangely, it turned around and ran for its life.
Goblins were monster that lived in groups. If alone, they were monsters that enjoyed to bully the weak but was afraid of the strong. A group that did not have a leader who was an elemental goblin or over did not have any nerves to face such an overwhelming powerful guy like Tom.
Tom was a bit stunned. The spell he used was the Holy Nova spell that the God of Light personally passed down to the human’s first priest! Although it was only recorded as family legends, there would still be a strand of faint divine might when the Holy Nova was released. Yet, not only did the goblin, an existence as weak as an ant, not instantly fall down to its knees to beg for forgiveness, it was even able to so vigorously turn around to escape.
“It actually ignored the might of the God of Light?”
But that was because Tom was inexperienced. However, it was reasonable as Tom wasn’t a scholar who studied goblins. Monsters like goblins had an innate skill, and it was to ignore might. Gather several tens of thousands of goblins, and the guys with crippled brains would even have the nerves to challenge a huge dragon. In short, they were too stupid, so much that it was in another realm.
Instantly sending a rank one Holy Fire with the exhaustion of one Mark, Tom chased after the monster that was escaping. The flames pierced through its body, and with one shot, Tom burnt a huge hole through the chest of the fleeing goblin. What was remained was light that alternated between yellow and red. After the elite goblin’s body continued forward with inertia for a few steps, like other goblins before, it also fell onto the ground, dead.
“One shot for one, and next time, I need to aim more accurately.” Tom shot a glance at the slop of flesh and blood and he felt a bit sick. After all, it was a human-shaped lifeform, so Tom’s face couldn’t help but pale slightly.
“This time, five-and-a-half Marks were used and on the road, Spirit Sensing was used four times. When those four are added and with some calculations, I only have fifteen Marks left. Before finding a place that I can set up camp and rest, I should hold back on using.” Tom kept on warning himself in his brain.
On the road, Tom finished off a dozen goblins or so, and one time, he even met two rank two monsters, elite goblins. Although they were elite goblins, all they had extra was some more developed muscles and some Demonic Copper weapons. But facing Tom, a priest that could use rank three holy magic, the difference was still like the sky and the earth. At most, fire two more Holy Fire then the elite goblins had to hate themselves for appearing in front of Tom.
After casually killing off an elite goblin that was charging towards him while screaming like a ghost, from the corner of Tom’s eye, he seemed to see that hiddenly, there was some orange-coloured fire light.
Bonfire? After walking for half a day, he ran into a goblin’s camp?
Tom stopped his footsteps and hid in a natural cave, then looked at the World Instrument he always brought with him. If that place wasn’t filled with dense fog, currently, it would be near evening, and Tom hadn’t eaten anything for a morning and an afternoon. He then pulled out the dried apples and coconut that his father made and nibbled on them as he silently waited for the Holy Energy in his body, in which not much remained, to gradually be restored to its full point.
As he meditated, Tom used Spirit Sensing to observe the camp five hundred yards away. Through the blurry mirror image, he saw that next to the bonfire, there were a dozen or so goblins. Within the dozen or so goblins, there were two that had strange appearances. One seemed to be an extremely aged goblin, and on its body, there was a dirty long robe that was covered with oil stains. The thing it grasped in its hand was a magic staff roughly created from some unknown beast’s big thigh bone.
“Goblin caster?” Tom was looking at the aged goblin which was sitting on a rock while gabbling to twelve strong goblins while its saliva madly sprayed out, like an old guy that preached. Tom puzzledly expanded his Mind power.
Goblin casters. When infected by elements, they would advance into being rank four monsters, elemental goblins. However, the old thing that was aged to that state did not have too many changes in advancing.
After the Sensing brushed past the aged goblin caster, Tom looked at a tall, big, and mighty goblin that stood behind it.
It was a monster that was even more robust than a strong goblin, and the undoubtedly real pieces of muscles flashed with green oily light within the dense fog. The thick muscles caused Tom to feel a type of oppression, and a Demonic Iron battleaxe that was shone from polishing was laid vertically by the goblin’s leg.
The unreasonably strong goblin had a breastplate that emanated faint green light. Its waist was surrounded with a battle skirt made out of an unknown wild beast’s fur.
A goblin warrior? As a priest that was responsible for supporting his teammate’s back before, facing the goblin that had power that went off the charts, Tom’s heart couldn’t help but tighten.