The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 17: Going deeper

Chapter 17: Going deeper

John leaped over Robert and slammed his fist into one of the goblins. The goblin’s head was driven into the ground, and a small magical spark shot out from it.

John pulled his hand back, and that magical spark clung to his knuckles, creating a strange effect of magical brilliance.

John struck a second time with that same hand.

BOOM!

Upon impact, his hand released that energy into the goblin’s body. A shockwave emanated from inside the goblin’s head, causing an explosion from within.

Zaid watched from a distance with interest.

’So that’s his D-Rank Talent, [Boxer’s Kinetic Impact],’ he thought.

A skill that forces you to land direct hits to gain a massive advantage over your enemy: 10% of the impact’s energy is stored in your knuckles. With your next strike, you’ll not only hit 10% harder, but you’ll also release that energy as a shockwave inside your target.

Thanks to that percentage, it’s a skill that will be useful at practically any level.

Zaid watched this battle closely, because that was a skill he planned to purchase in the future. He wanted to learn as much as possible about it. Although he couldn’t see much.

The goblins died too quickly.

"If they’re this strong, we might only run into trouble when we encounter large hordes. Let’s keep moving forward," John said.

No one noticed that when Zaid passed close to the goblins, he moved his hand slightly toward them, absorbing a residual essence.

Their progress through the dungeon was smooth.

They encountered several groups of 4 to 8 goblins, who were easily defeated by the party’s strength. Only once did they face a brief problem when one of the goblins slipped away to attack Zaid.

However, Zaid demonstrated why his strength was so admirable—even without weapons—and managed to subdue the goblin, albeit with some difficulty.

He realized that the strength of these F-Rank beasts was not the same as that of the ones in the Wasteland Zone. Even though they yielded the same amount of ME, the difference in strength was noticeable.

He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to kill many goblins on his own, unless he used his special abilities. But that was to be expected. It often takes large groups of hunters to clear a single portal; it’s not easy to clear one by yourself.

"This place is huge." John stopped after walking for a long time without encountering any more beasts.

"Well, the portal was so big, boss. Although the beasts are pretty weak," said one of his friends.

"Let’s rest here for a while," suggested Zaid. "We can come up with a strategy to fight these goblins more effectively, so we can finish this faster."

John nodded. "That’s a good idea,"

They began discussing a strategy, trying to reach a consensus on how to attack. The things to keep in mind were: John is the main attacker, since his explosive and precise damage is very effective.

However, it remained to be seen what kind of abilities or magic Alice possessed, and in this case, Zaid was very careful about involving her in the plan because he understood that she didn’t want to reveal them.

"Are you going to stay on as a cargo man?" John asked.

Zaid looked at him. "What else can I do?"

"You can try to join the plan to kill some goblins. Leveling up will help you a lot. Even though you don’t have a talent, your strength will help you survive."

Zaid laughed. "I’d rather not take away experience points from you fighters. After all, I’m not very useful." He said with a touch of embarrassment.

John nodded slightly. In a way, he was right. A hunter without a talent isn’t much use.

"If we make it to the boss, you might have a chance to get a talent. Bosses sometimes drop talents," John said, standing up to stretch.

Zaid glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, surprised.

Talents dropped by bosses can cost a fortune, even low-rank ones. Because a talent can mean the difference between life and death.

Usually, these are sold for the benefit of the group. Was he planning to give it to him?

’Does he care about me? What a weird bully.’ Zaid chuckled to himself.

"If you’re worried, then get me a dagger. I’m good with them," said Zaid, standing up behind him.

"Worried? Tsk, you’re deluding yourself." John walked over to his friends and patted them on the back. "Time to get to work. It’s about time..."

His words trailed off when he felt danger breathing down his neck.

Zaid suddenly leaned backward, and a sharp dagger whizzed past his neck.

’Shit, are there goblins behind me?’

If it weren’t for his [Keen Senses], he would have been killed!

The dagger continued on its long flight through the dungeon, serving as a threat to the beasts ahead...

Unfortunately for them, there was no bend in the dungeon right in front of them. The dagger was able to move forward at a rapid pace and alerted a huge number of goblins who were divided into groups.

ROAR!

A piercing roar began to echo from inside, until the dagger embedded itself in one of the dungeon walls.

"Watch out, we’re surrounded!" John shouted.

Zaid tried to grab the load, but he realized that in the face of such overwhelming odds, it wasn’t a good idea to carry something so heavy, so he set it aside and immediately joined the group.

For the first time, Alice summoned her weapon, and her unusually calm and impassive eyes shifted slightly. Her weapon was a wizard’s staff with a common design, but it was long and comfortable.

’A staff? Why use a staff?’ Zaid frowned, but didn’t ask the question. He was curious to see how she would use her talent.

After all... she’s an impressive talent.

Everyone took up combat positions. Robert, the tank, had to face forward because the hordes approaching were so numerous; he was getting help from John.

Meanwhile, Landon and Alice looked behind them, with Landon acting as the tank and the front line.

"They’re coming!" Robert clenched his teeth and immediately tried to draw the attention of the goblins before him.

His talent shone through, and he leaped forward with a full swing of his hammer.

"GROAR!" The goblins roared and charged at him.

"Watch out, there are too many of them!" John roared from behind him. He had a better view thanks to the torches the goblins were carrying, and he could see that there were more than 40 of them.

However, Robert had no choice but to engage in a head-on battle. It wasn’t long before he was wounded...

John took a deep breath and looked behind him. "There shouldn’t be many behind us—when you’re done, come help!" he said, but when he turned around, he froze.

Behind them... there were no goblins.

There were humans dressed in dark robes!

Assassins!