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The Green Tea Party didn’t rush to stage 6 and beyond after clearing stage 5.

Instead, they spent their remaining daily quota to clear stage 5 repeatedly and called it a day.

This day’s earnings made Ren a millionaire, but he didn’t even grace it with a reaction since he really didn’t think it was a big deal. And it wasn’t.

Martial artists, especially those who go to dungeons every day, earn credits really easily, but they also spend just as much on gear, sustenance, supplements, and other things. And it only gets more expensive the stronger one gets. That’s why this wasn’t a big deal.

With stages 4 and 5 out of the way, Ren could progress again.

He told the team that he’d like to run stages 6 to 8 solo, and they had no problems with that.

Solo activities weren’t a violation of his contract with the party, especially since he wasn’t a permanent member. Actually, some parties out there support solo activities.

But even so, Ren still came to Sir Justin to inform him of what he planned to do. He could’ve done it without his permission, and he wouldn’t have gotten in trouble anyway, but he thought that, at the very least, it’s a polite thing to do.

Sir Justin gave his permission, of course. He appreciates the young man’s respect and saw no reason to decline. He wasn’t worried about Ren since he knew that the young man was strong.

Ordinary goblins shouldn’t give him much trouble.

As such, for the next three days, Ren wouldn’t be at the party base. He’d solo stages 6 to 8 on his own. He’d return to tackle stages 9 and 10 with the party.

And so, Ren returned home after saying goodbye to the party for a bit.

Upon arriving home, Ren felt some kind of comfort. He had been away from home for the majority of the days since he began training with his party. He kind of missed the peace and silence of the clan.

As per usual, nothing new happened to the clan. It’s the same old business as ever. The clan still sells potions and works as healers for the most part to continue supporting the next generation.

Still, Ren missed his solitude within the clan. Alas, those days are over now. He had to go out and explore dungeons. The clan can’t support and protect him forever.

Ren went to sleep after a long day and got up very early the next day to do his morning routine.

After that, he ate something light for breakfast and left for the dungeon gates to go to stage 6.

It’s time for him to meet the goblins up close and personal.

**

There was a bit of acrid smell in the air that he immediately noticed the moment he arrived.

Instead of a forest, Ren spawned in some ruins. There were broken thatched houses, rock protrusions, and a blanket of moss surrounding him. He sensed no threats whatsoever, and he wasn’t expecting one since this should be his safe zone in this stage.

The ruins were near the swamp, but that wasn’t the source of the faint acrid smell.

"This should be an old goblin settlement," he muttered to himself.

The information checks out. The old and tattered houses around him showed signs of goblin usage. The acrid smell was from those creatures, for sure. Ren could even see the old traps that had been abandoned and no longer worked. There were also bones of small animals around.

He was at an open space, and Kaycee isn’t here to use her bloodline ability to inform him of what he’s dealing with. Ren had to do things the old-fashioned way since he’s going in solo.

And so, he moved...

As usual, his first priority is to secure resources. Stage 6 should produce better yield and slightly higher quality of resources. New ones should show up too since this was technically a different environment.

On his way, though, Ren paid constant attention to his surroundings.

Goblins are smarter than slimes. They know how to build and use tools; they form settlements; they patrol in groups, could hunt prey, etc. They’re not like slimes who just bounce around without a care in the world.

If he were sighted, goblins wouldn’t hesitate to attack. They’re a little bit aggressive and territorial, after all.

But goblins are messy creatures. They leave obvious trails and they smell bad. Ren’s sharp senses wouldn’t fail to sense their presence or see their trails, so he should be fine.

Squeak!

Ren’s eyes suddenly sharpened. In an instant, he jumped behind a cover and stayed silent. He waited for a bit before peeking through the small gap available from his hiding spot.

The smell struck him before he saw them. The acrid smell sharpened, indicating some goblins were close. Of course, he also saw them.

Green skin, no more than four feet tall, sharp pointed ears, dilated pupils, yellow teeth with fangs protruding, wearing animal skin and holding crude tools, communicating through squeaks and chirps...oh, they were goblins alright.

Goblins move in groups, pack creatures, if you will. A lone goblin isn’t a thing. If you see one alone, that’s probably because the others set up an ambush and are hidden somewhere.

Ren watched the goblins from behind his hiding spot as the goblins fought each other playfully, swinging their daggers at each other and cackling horrendously.

His eyes were drawn to their brown sacks that they carried. He could almost tell that those should be full of resources they’ve gathered around the area. And they’re probably going to collect more on their way back to their settlement.

This was another thing that changes when going to a dungeon with sentient monsters. They will compete for the resources in the map too, even more fiercely than other monsters.

Ren could jump out of his hiding spot and rush in to kill the goblins before they knew what happened. It doesn’t seem like they’ve sensed his presence yet, so he could make it work.

But Ren didn’t do that just yet.

Instead, he went from one hiding spot to the next, making sure to make as little noise possible as he moved to not alert the goblins.

He was tailing them, because from what he knew, they should be on their way back to their settlement. Their bags were already full, and they couldn’t carry more; they would need to unload it to their homes so that they could go out again for another haul.

Following them will save Ren some time finding the nearest concentration of goblins, which will help him clear his quest.

[Kill 0/30 Ordinary Goblins]

But Ren wasn’t planning on following them all the way.

He stuck to trees and elevated places when he moved. He was always scouting ahead to see if he could spot the settlement first. He wouldn’t let this group return alive to their home since he’s interested to see what they’re carrying in those sacks.

And his scouting bore results.

Although he hasn’t seen it in full, he already located the goblin settlement nearby. That’s enough for him.

And so, wordlessly and almost soundlessly, Ren dropped in the middle of the goblins. Before they could even register what they were seeing, Ren had already punched three in the head, exploding them like watermelons.

By the time the others reacted, they were already too late; Ren was already upon them.

In just a minute and half, Ren killed five goblins. Their bodies and blood dried up at a speed visible to the naked eye before turning into dust scattered by the wind, leaving no traces behind at all.

Ren wasn’t concerned. He crouched down and started rummaging through the sacks they left behind.

The haul wasn’t bad. Raw ores, minerals, plants, herbs, and flowers. There’s even some goblin-made tools in here, but those weren’t so valuable, so he ignored them.

Ren took everything except for the really cheap and almost worthless ones, like the rags that the goblins wore; those don’t have any value whatsoever. They couldn’t even be used to wipe out dirt reliably, so he wouldn’t let them occupy a space in his inventory.

Aside from their clothes, though, the goblins also dropped their monster parts: ears, fangs, and nails. These ones have value, unlike the rags they wear.

Believe it or not, goblin parts are also common ingredients for potions. And since Ren was learning more recipes, of course he’d collect them.

After looting the remains of the goblins he ambushed, Ren didn’t go to the settlement right away.

Instead, he marked its location on his mind and walked away. He will explore the rest of the map first to gather more resources, then he will return here to clear the quest.

There shouldn’t be multiple settlements in this map. This is just stage 6 after all. It shouldn’t be so complicated right away.

But even if there turns out to be more than one, it’s not a big deal. So long as he locates even one, he is confident of clearing this dungeon stage.

It’s just ordinary goblins, after all.