Chapter 72 Maze (2)

Their broad noses, small eyes, pointed ears, and backward-leaning foreheads made them look much like ordinary goblins, but they towered over them by more than twice the height, appearing even stronger than human warriors, resembling bear-men draped in bear skins.

Unlike the bald heads of regular goblins, these massive creatures had a rough layer of brown or yellow fur similar to that of bears, giving them the appearance of some sort of large goblin-like creature.

They resembled the bugbears¹ mentioned in books.

“Are these bugbears?” Lynn asked Bu behind him in a low voice.

“Esteemed emissary of the gods, they are indeed bugbears, a group of greedy and brutal individuals,” Bu reverently replied.

Bugbears, Lynn recalled the descriptions of these creatures in his mind.

They were a subspecies of the goblin race, falling into the category of goblin-like creature. They were robust and cunning—despite their towering stature, they excelled in stealthy maneuvers. They were fond of ambushing enemies, and the extraordinary professions they often transitioned to were related to assassins and killers. Weaker bugbears tended to hunt in groups, while stronger individuals preferred solo hunting.

So, a simple way to gauge the strength of bugbears was to see if they had companions around them.

If there were none, and one encountered a lone bugbear in the wilderness, it was definitely a formidable hunter capable of surviving alone. Bugbears skilled in wilderness survival were adept at climbing, hiding, listening, sneaking, scouting, and reconnaissance. They were ruthless when ambushing enemies.

Of course, there were also a few bugbears who liked to enslave their fellow goblins and hobgoblins to form clans. These inherently cruel creatures had strong aggressive tendencies.

Lynn noticed something peculiar—he stood in the passage, logically speaking, the bugbears in the hall ahead should have turned their heads and noticed him.

But they hadn’t looked in his direction from beginning to end at all.

It seemed…

It seemed that these bugbears hadn’t noticed his presence at all.

Lynn counted them carefully, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

There were a total of six bugbears.

Some of them bore injuries, most likely inflicted by the wizard apprentices who had entered earlier.

Lynn narrowed his eyes, grasping his magic staff firmly in hand.

He began preparing a spell.

Since these bugbears couldn’t detect him in this position, he decided to start with a one-ring spell.

Thinking about it, both ‘Terror’ and ‘Earth Ring’ spells were viable options.

One caused widespread fear, while the other immobilized targets within its range.

Dealing with bugbears, who were known to be bullies, ‘Terror’ would likely be more effective.

The potency of spells like ‘Terror’ depends on two factors. On one hand, it relies on the caster’s mental strength, and on the other hand, it’s influenced by the target’s personality.

A semi-transparent black ripple gradually condensed at the tip of his magic staff.

Bu discreetly raised its head, gazing in awe at the power gathering at the tip of Lynn’s magic staff.

So, the emissary of the gods was a powerful spellcaster. Bu had mistakenly thought the emissary of the gods was a fierce warrior.

‘Terror’.

The quivering, transparent black ripple expanded outward.

Within the confined space of the hall, the ripples piled up and reverberated incessantly.

The bugbears who had been roaming the hall trembled, their legs instinctively attempting to flee, but their weakened limbs forced them to kneel on the ground instead.

A ferocious ‘Minor Fireball’ spell then crashed into the bugbears.

Their tough fur was instantly blasted apart, sparks flying as scorching flames spread along their fur.

The bugbears recoiled in pain, their small yellow eyes widening in terror as they glanced in Lynn’s direction. Then, scrambling on all fours in a panicked frenzy, they tried to lie down to smother the flames. But the fire on their bodies was too intense, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t extinguish it.

Surviving a hit from a ‘Minor Fireball’ spell? These bugbears truly were resilient.

Lynn narrowed his eyes. This time, instead of casting another ‘Minor Fireball’, he unleashed a ‘Poison Gas Splash’ spell.

A greenish mist spread rapidly, soon enveloping the entire hidden hall.

At this moment, footsteps echoed from behind, signaling the arrival of another wizard apprentice.

Lynn turned around, observing the wizard apprentice behind him who appeared to be a commoner wizard.

The apprentice, apparently recognizing Lynn, shivered slightly, forcing a stiff smile on his face. “I didn’t know you were in here, I thought it was empty,” he stammered before hastily leaving the hall.

Watching him depart, Lynn redirected the spell he had been silently chanting onto the bugbears.

‘Dark Energy Ray’.

A beam of black light struck the nearest bugbear.

The bugbear shuddered, its complexion visibly darkening as the dark energy invaded its body. The excessively concentrated dark energy would have negative effects on any normal creature the moment it entered the body.

“But this guy seems tough, and it looks like the direct damage isn’t significant,” Lynn remarked thoughtfully, observing the shuddering bugbear.

It seemed that the power of a zero-ring spell was still lacking. It could inflict considerable damage to ordinary people or wizards with poor physical qualities, but for such tough units, the damage from zero-ring spells was less apparent.

Lynn continued preparing spells. With his current mental strength and the aid of his magic staff, he could cast five zero-ring spells in quick succession.

Moreover, with potions to restore his mental strength, there was no need to be overly conservative with zero-ring spells.

‘Earth Ring’.

Lynn casted another one-ring spell, aiming it at the bugbears.

Golden chains materialized before him, swaying and swirling like serpents in the air.

With a mental command, the golden chains flew towards the bugbears. They pierced through each creature like sharp swords before disappearing into the ground.

The ground trembled, soil broke open, and the heavy earth-colored transparent chains firmly locked all the pierced bugbears in place.

The bugbears, who had been running around in panic because of the ‘Terror’ spell, stumbled and found themselves trapped in place as the transparent earth-colored chains emerged from the ground.

Comparing ‘Earth Ring’ to ‘Terror’ in terms of control, it seemed that ‘Earth Ring’ might be even more effective than ‘Terror’?

However, ‘Earth Ring’ spell not only required preparation time but also had a casting process.

If others ran fast enough to evade, the ‘Terror’ spell could be cast faster.

Once the bugbears were bound, Lynn summoned two Iron Earthworms and Lauren from the Alchemy Laboratory to assist him in dealing with all the bugbears.

After disposing of all the bugbears, Lynn instructed one Iron Earthworm to guard the entrance.

There were no other exits inside, so Lynn first stored all the bugbear corpses in his spatial ring.

Having grown accustomed to living in poverty, he couldn’t bear to waste any materials.

Suddenly, the floor in the middle of the hall collapsed into a circular pit. Shortly after, the circular pit rose again, revealing a hefty wooden chest in the center of the hall.

This should be the resource reward for conquering the monster lair, as mentioned by Wizard Harin.

Lynn pondered.

Looking at the large wooden chest, roughly two meters long and wide, and one meter high, Lynn’s mind was slightly agitated, wondering what might be inside.

Approaching, he opened the chest.

Inside the large chest crouched two green-skinned, long-eared, shriveled-looking goblins. They gazed up imploringly at Lynn with big, tearful eyes.

The smile on Lynn’s face suddenly stiffened.

I went through all that trouble to kill six bugbears, and my reward is two little goblins?

“Pull them out,” Lynn said to Bu.

Bu pulled out the two goblins and untied the ropes binding them.

“Thank you, emissary of the gods, for saving us. We are willing to serve the emissary of the gods with all we have,” the two goblins said, bowing down and kissing Lynn’s boots.

“Hmm,” Lynn responded nonchalantly.

He then looked to the bottom of the chest, where he found four small items—two iron tokens resembling badges, a roll of parchment, and a thin piece of paper.

He picked up the four items.

The piece of paper listed the effects of the other three items, and on the back, there was a complex symbol with the inscription “50 points.”

The parchment was a training manual for the extraordinary profession of goblin wanderer.

The other two tokens were inheritance tokens for two goblin engineers, both disposable items containing the amount of knowledge a standard junior goblin engineer could possess. As long as they were used on creatures of goblin blood, all the knowledge contained in the inheritance token could be gradually absorbed within ten days.

In other words, as long as there are enough inheritance tokens and goblins, I can gain a large amount of goblin engineers in a short period? Although they are only junior goblin engineers, many basic processes can be entrusted to them. Moreover, these junior goblin engineers can continue to be trained.

For any wizard apprentice, these are invaluable helpers, aren’t they? Lynn pondered as he toyed with the tokens in his hand.

He seemed to understand the rules of this maze now.

At the moment, these goblins seemed to have low value, but if he could obtain many inheritance tokens, these goblins might become a considerable force.

——
TL/N:

Bugbears are hairy goblinoids born for battle and mayhem. They survive by raiding and hunting, but are fond of setting ambushes and fleeing when outmatched.
—D&D Beyond

Bugbears, like other goblinoids, had a reputation for being dim-witted and brutish. This claim was not unfounded, and like their kin, bugbears had easily provoked tempers and were prone to rages. Few bugbears overcame this flaw and their culture’s brutal nature. Many bugbears were chaotic evil in alignment, favoring stealth and surprising their opponents.
—Forgotten Realms Wiki