"Redcap Mushrooms and Thornberries," Dahlia glanced at the quests that Alex had accepted from their Quest Board. "There had been sightings of Goblins in the outskirts of the Floating Forests as of late. So, be careful while you collect herbs out there, okay?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Alex replied with a smile.
"Good. I expect to see you later today. If you're not back within two days, I'll ask some friends to look for you in the forest. I will at least bury your corpse if they find it."
"Don't worry, Miss Dahlia. I'm not intending to kick the bucket anytime soon."
"That's what all Adventurer's say, you know?"
After that friendly banter in the Adventurer's Guild, Alex headed towards the Floating Forest.
Two days had passed since he last visited the place, and if possible, he wanted to retrace the spot where he found the Redcap Mushrooms, and the Thornberries, so that he could collect them faster.
"Dim Dim, if there are Rank 2 Monsters or higher in the surroundings, make sure to give me a warning."
Alex planned to rely on his own senses to detect danger in his surroundings. However, he had learned from the incident a few days ago that being too stubborn could cost him his life.
He could still deal with Rank 1 Monsters. But, Rank 2 Monsters and above could threaten his life.
In the end, he chose survivability over stubbornness.
As he stealthily headed to the Northwestern Area of the Forest, he immediately noticed a group of five Goblins.
'Are they perhaps hunting together?' Alex thought as he eyed the monsters who were awfully close to the outskirts of the forest. 'It seems that Dahlia is right. The outskirts are no longer safe.'
However, instead of feeling intimidated, Alex thought that this was a good opportunity.
If the Goblins fought against a strong monster like the Rank 2 Brown Bear, he might once again profit if an opportunity arose.
Because of this, he stealthily stalked the goblin group, while making sure to keep a good look at his surroundings for possible threats, as well as the herbs that he was looking for.
Half an hour later, the Goblin came across four Forest Wolves, who were also out hunting for food.
The Wolves and the Goblins were both Rank 1 Monsters, so the battle wasn't one-sided.
Even though it was a four versus five battle, the wolves were able to get the upper hand due to their superior speed, and teamwork.
They were able to eliminate one of the Goblin Warriors right away, while only suffering minor injuries.
After one of their comrades died in battle, the Goblins became more ferocious and fought with great intensity. The Goblin Archer, who had climbed a tree while raining down arrows at the wolves, hitting one of them on the back.
Since the wolves weren't really tree climbers, they had no choice but to ignore the Goblin Archer, and focus on their opponents on the ground.
The battle lasted for nearly fifteen minutes.
Four of the five goblins were dead, while only two wolves remained.
Both were feeling frustrated because they couldn't attack the Goblin Archer, who was on the tree, and prevented them from preying on the goblins that they killed.
"He has only two more arrows? Good."
Alex, who had watched the battle from start to end, was also waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Once the Goblin Archer had used up all of its arrows, the young man would go in for the kill.
The standoff lasted for three more minutes as the Goblin Archer was forced to use its two remaining arrows.
One of the arrows hit the wolf on its eye, making the latter suffer serious injuries.
The second arrow missed, which meant that the Goblin no longer had any ammunition to use against its foes.
Using this as an opportunity, the wolf, who only suffered moderate injuries during the battle with the goblins, no longer hesitated and started to gorge on one of the Goblins that it had killed earlier.
The wolf, who had been struck in the eye, had ran away, which disappointed Alex.
Thinking that there was no longer any need to keep hiding, he lunged at the wolf who was still feasting on the fallen goblin and struck its neck with a downward strike using everything he had.
He did it as quickly, and as deadly as possible, staying true to his training.
The wolf, which had already been injured at the beginning, and had let down its guard, wasn't able to detect Alex's killing blow.
Its body staggered for a bit before collapsing on the ground. The surprise attack didn't kill it, but Alex's second sword strike got the job done.
He then shifted his attention to the Goblin, who was still on top of the tree, and glaring at Alex with bloodshot eyes.
"What are you looking at?" Alex asked as he stored his sword, and summoned a bow.
The moment the Goblin saw the boy, it immediately shrieked in fright and decided to jump off the tree branch in order to escape.
But Alex's arrow struck its body mid-jump, making it lose its balance.
The young man didn't hesitate to switch back to the sword and sliced off the fallen goblin's head to end its life.
He didn't want to cause any problems by letting it shout for help, so he killed it as fast as he could.
The young man understood that he couldn't stay long, so he stored the bodies of the dead wolves in his Beast Pouch, and started to cut the right ears of the Goblins.
Once that was done, he didn't hesitate to leave the place, and return to his Herb Gathering mission.
Half an hour later, he met with two teenagers, who were also gathering herbs like him.
One of them was a girl, and the other was a boy.
Alex had seen them in the Adventurer's Guild a few times, and the two also recognized him.
"Don't go further," the young lady warned. "The Dire Wolves are prowling that area. There are over a dozen of them, so we decided to leave."
Dim Dim nodded as if to affirm that the young lady was telling the truth. Because of this, Alex heeded her advice and also left the area.
"By the way, my name is Annie," the young lady said with a blush because Alex was quite good looking. "And this is my neighbor, Ronnie."
Ronnie wasn't too happy that his childhood friend seemed to have become smitten with the young man they just met. Because of this, he didn't bother to reply and simply grunted.
Annie was a Herbalist, while Ronnie was a Swordsman.
The teenage boy always accompanied the young lady whenever she went to the Floating Forest to collect herbs as her bodyguard.
While the three were talking, wolf howls reverberated in the forest, making the three of them head towards the outskirts of the forest as fast as possible.
They also noticed a few more Adventurers doing the same.
Clearly, whatever was happening inside the forest wasn't a good thing, and no one wanted to be in the middle of a turf war between the Dire Wolves, and whatever monsters they were planning to fight.