Looking towards the source of the goblin chatter he'd heard on the wind, Ronan saw nothing but the swirling fog and the endless trees. However, the sounds were definitely real. If it was an illusion, his amulet would have awoken—especially against enemies who were likely around level 10 to 15.

Moving stealthily to ensure he wasn't heard, Ronan advanced. With the wind blowing towards him, he had the advantage. Any sound he did make, or any scent he gave off that the goblins might be alerted by, were carried away behind him, rather than towards his foes.

The closer Ronan drew to the sounds, the louder they grew. Most of the time when he encountered goblins, it was to kill them. As such, he'd only ever heard them screeching in rage, pain, or frustration. Sometimes surprise. That was why hearing the oddly jubilant squawks left him somewhat befuddled.

He hadn't even known goblins could sound so cheerful. To him, it seemed as though they were joking and relaxing, a contrast to every other goblin he'd encountered in the tutorial. It unnerved him.

It was too… normal.

Pressed against a tall pine tree, he steadied his breath before peeking around the thick trunk. Mixing with the thick, grey mist, he saw streams of something darker—smoke. Through the clouds, there were orange and yellow flashes. The goblins had a fire.

From the sounds of things, it was a campfire. Thinking back to his encounter in stage 1, it now seemed likely that the pair he'd killed were on a patrol of sorts. With this being only the second stage, Ronan doubted the campfire was their 'settlement,' but it could be an outpost. Nonetheless, if there were monsters, they had to die. Such was the tutorial.

Once he was certain that none of the goblins had heard him or were coming his way, Ronan began to move in. One tree at a time, he slipped through the misty forest, keeping out of sight.

He hoped to get close enough that he could assess their numbers and figure out how he wished to approach the attack. If there were only a few of them, he'd be more than happy to rush in, kill one in an ambush, then follow through by brawling the others. If there was a large crowd, however, he might have to be sneakier. Or more explosive.

Unfortunately he hadn't mastered an area of effect spell yet, or he could simply nuke the goblins and be done with it. With how loud they were chattering and laughing, they didn't notice even as Ronan reached just two trees' distance away from their camp.

The trees closest to the camp obscured parts of it, but he was able to get a rough headcount. At first glance, he spotted at least five goblins. Those were serious numbers. He doubted he would struggle, but the ramp up in difficulty compared to the normal and hard difficulty stage 2's was steep.

Then again, this tutorial had given the challenger an environmental and situational advantage to deal with the increased numbers. In fact, compared to the three-versus-one open field battle of hard difficulty's stage 2, Ronan felt this was easier.

While he didn't think he'd need to do so, a weaker person than him could easily wait for one of the goblins to leave the camp to relieve themselves, or lure them out somehow, before assassinating the little shits one by one. A sound strategy that he had no desire to employ.

Of the five goblins he could see, two were warriors, one was a rogue, and two were rangers. It was the first time he'd seen a goblin with the ranger class, which made him curious, because in stage 1 he'd fought a rogue with a bow and arrow. Probably just system randomness. Or perhaps it depends what the individual wants, both classes could suit an archer, he thought to himself.

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Of the warriors, one had a sword and shield while the other wielded a spear. Both rangers had bows, with quivers strung over their shoulders. As for the rogue, he couldn't see it holding a weapon, so he assumed it had daggers hidden on its body.

Taking out the archers first would be best, but the rogue could be annoying in a drawn out fight. Especially with the lack of restores, which he'd surmised were every 3 levels, rather than 2. Not overly punishing with how quickly he leveled up, but still a factor to keep in mind as he fought.

The five goblins ranged from level 12 to 14. Two at the lower end, with one of the rangers being the solitary level 14. Not difficult for him with his current arsenal.

He hadn't yet assigned his free points, but he wasn't even sure he needed to. He sort of wanted to wait for his class before doing so. Considering his options, Ronan decided he would go in hard and fast. Blitz the goblins before they could even react to his presence, much like he'd ambushed the pair in stage 1.

Using a conjured dagger he would be able to kill the level 14, hopefully in a single strike. If not, a second stab would do the trick. Even with one down, fighting alone against four wasn't ideal. An idea came to mind and a smirk appeared on his face.

Just because he was practicing sorcery, didn't mean he had to stick to it all the time.

Waiting for a moment when all five goblins were distracted and not looking in his direction, Ronan conjured a dagger in his right hand and began to cycle his mana through his body. The second part wasn't immediately necessary, but it was better to be prepared.

He reached the final ring of trees before the clearing in which the goblins had made camp. Pressing himself right against the trunk, he was close enough to the level 14 ranger to hear its scratchy breathing. Slipping around the trunk on the side that was hidden from the goblins, he raised the conjured dagger to chest height.

Taking a final breath, he leapt from his hiding spot. One arm grabbed the ranger, the other plunged the dagger into its neck between its spine and collarbone. Blood sprayed at his face. At the same time, he unleashed an uncommon skill that he'd only used once before.

Dust bomb did much as the name suggested, unleashing a cloud of dust in a given area. Usually it would provide little-to-no combat utility, only offering a method of obstructing vision. However, thanks to the goblins sitting close enough to their campfire that their toes almost touched the edge of the pit, it gained a deadly edge.

Dust acted as a sort of gas when blown into a cloud. The fine particles that were spread out were flammable, catching alight with the merest spark. Not only that, but a huge cloud of dust could ignite instantly, the moment a single mote caught aflame.

By positioning himself behind the ranger, Ronan had angled three of the five goblins so that the campfire was between them and him, as he emerged. The dust cloud blew through the fire, turning the peaceful forest into a hellish inferno.

To Ronan, the screams of the goblins were like music to his ears. As he ripped his dagger from the ranger's neck, he received his first kill notification. It was quickly followed by a second as one of the goblins succumbed to the flames.

The cloud of fire died out almost as rapidly as it had appeared, but the damage was done. One of the warriors was charred beyond recognition, while the other warrior and the rogue had suffered severe burns. The rogue was paralysed by the damage, while the warrior still had the energy to limply raise its spear in his direction.

The twang of a bow alerted him to the second ranger's counter-attack. It was a matter of ease to sidestep the arrow. As he moved closer, Ronan unleashed a mana bolt he'd been preparing from the moment he killed the first ranger.

A shower of blue sparks and scarlet blood heralded the second ranger's death. Lunging forwards, Ronan stomped on the struggling warrior's throat, ending its pitiful death throes. With that, the entire group had been slain.

He pulled up the kill notifications, eager to see how high his level had risen, as well as what the rewards for completing the stage would be. Not only that, but he would be able to select the class he'd been waiting for. First though, he might browse the full list just to see what else had become available while he'd been grinding.

As he reached the end of the notifications, however, Ronan's excitement faded to worry. There was no stage completion message. Was killing the five goblins not enough? How much harder was this tutorial?

His rapid train of thought was broken by the sound of a breaking branch, followed by a vengeful screech. Shit! They weren't all in the camp!

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