Hobgoblins were like ants. Not in the industrious, team-building way, but in the biological way. They released pheromones—or in their case, something extremely repulsive and repugnant to any species except for these glorified goblins themselves—and used that stench as a tracker for other Hobgoblins to find their way to each other.

  When they found prey, they became even more excited. The “pheromones” they released would change in nature, turning into a far stronger smelling scent. They would, at the same time, release another scent in the form of their sweat which dripped everywhere.

  This sweat and the scent that came along with it made it clear for the Hobgoblins that they were ‘one of each other.’ Their teams, their groups, were solidified like this.

  I was going to make use of precisely that network. The sweat that the Hobgoblins released was more than necessary for this plan. I laid the trap next.

  The Hobgoblins were slowly gathering through the paths of the dungeons, in smaller numbers than before, across the various places where I had planted blood and left some surprises. At the same time, I had made use of another thing which the Greater Kobolds were largely attracted to.

  Sound.

  How would an F-Ranked Hunter make sounds? It was surprisingly easy with the power of Ice Magic, actually.

  “Grrr!?”

  A sound came toward me as I lay in wait behind a stalactite in one of the smaller cave openings that I had set up. A single Hobgoblin was running here, following the trail of blood I had left slightly in this place.

  The Hobgoblin’s eyes fell right on me as I peered out of hiding. I stood there firmly.

  It was disgusting. Its clothes, made of the skins of other goblins, barely covered its murky green body that oozed yuck and ick from a sheer glance. It was like seeing a wet, crisp hotdog; just the sight was enough to make me gag, let alone the smell.

  But I needed to face it.

  The Hobgoblin came running my way when I stayed silent.

  Suddenly, as it charged at me with a bone club swinging around in its arms, it fell. The ground below was laden with a thin sheet of ice that made it lose its grip over its heavy body. The Hobgoblin fell right on its back.

  “Got you, motherfucker.”

  Now that the trap was laid and the main issue was solved, all that remained was the second-best thing I had received from Seraphina thanks to the symbiotic bond. On top of taking her disease, I had managed to learn a spell directly from her inventory.

  [Ice Magic]

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  [Sub-Skill: Ice Rain (Inferior)]

  It was largely limited since this was a skill the Ice Queen had made herself, but it was still something that I could use. That’s all I needed.

  The spell activated with a swing of my arms. I could feel the mana drain from me and my concentration filling toward the magic spell that I had just cast. Even though it felt largely instinctive, it was still unfamiliar. As if I was trying to relearn how to walk after getting into an accident.

  It was a unique feeling, but the skill worked.

  Small droplets of ice formed in the air. All of them started to hail down at once, turning into tiny but sharp and fierce spikes of ice. The ice rain was lethal as it cut into the skin of the Hobgoblin without much trouble, searing through its body and pinning it into place where it had fallen.

  The last step was mine to take. I rushed ahead and reached into my bag again, this time pulling out my one and only weapon that worked me through my initial dungeon raids.

  A magic gun. Thanks to my low mana all this time, I could barely use it as a last resort; it was also the only form of attack I had as an F-Ranked Hunter.

  But now… things were different.

  My mana filled the gun, and a small purple-black sphere started to form on the nozzle. Mana swirled in the air.

  “GRR!?” The Hobgoblin, in immense pain, raised its body as it noticed the anomaly in the air. It seemed to be furious at me as it growled, its stinky yellow teeth and the many maggots running inside its mouth more than visible, staring right into my eyes.

  Without hesitation, I took in a breath and pulled the trigger.

  —BANG!

  A bullet shot through the air and landed in the head of the Hobgoblin. It wasn't enough.

  —BANG. BANG. BANG!

  Three more, at the exact same spot. Finally, the Hobgoblin’s head was blown through cleanly as it fell to the ground, lifeless.

  Silence returned to this area of the dungeon. Distant sounds, though, still made their way and echoed all around. The Hobgoblins falling and screaming right near the place where the Kobolds would find them, all of them in small numbers.

  It was inevitable for there to be a large territorial fight.

  All I had to do was wait through it.

  And there wasn’t much of an issue in that. After all, the Hobgoblins would win.

  I reached down and lowered myself to the body of the Hobgoblin. It was disgusting, but there was no other choice. I reached out and dabbed some of its sweat onto my hand before rubbing it on my clothes.

  It was soon time to leave this dungeon for good. Before I ended up dead here.

  I was inside the settlement of the Hobgoblins. Almost all of them were out and about fighting with the Greater Kobolds, but there were still a lot of them here.

  The initial dungeon was supposed to have Hobgoblins as the final bosses, but instead, they were here filling the entire place. The monsters had evolved. Then, wouldn’t the final place be stronger too? That was my first thought, but it changed when I noticed that the Hobgoblins had weapons.

  They were territorial, cannibalistic in a sense, but they would never harm Hobgoblins of their ‘group’ or their settlement. That was why I was here. It seemed as soon as the initial goblins evolved into Hobgoblins, since it was easier for those monsters to become stronger before the original Hobgoblins could, they had already attacked the Hobgoblins that were supposed to be here.

  That was also why I was sure they would win, since they had the numbers and the weapons to attack. The qualifications were well met by the Hobgoblins.

  Inside their settlement, there were a few remaining Hobgoblins, some children for the most part. They all ignored me or seemed to see me as one of their own thanks to the smell. The older Hobgoblins that weren’t excited would definitely get confused seeing me, but for now, I was safe.

  I reached the largest stone hut in the place, which was quite much just another cave opening covered with more stones to let a house be formed, and inside I finally found the core of the dungeon.

  A large, ochre-shaded magic stone.

  It was time to get out.

  “Ice Spear.”