CHAPTER 46: LEVELING UP III

Logging back in, Rhys once again appeared in the Cursed Forest. He summoned Puddle, and the small slime came out hopping here and there before finally settling on his shoulder.

"Okay, buddy," he said with a smile, stretching a little, "ready to go back to power leveling?"

Puddle nodded enthusiastically as Rhys cracked his knuckles. "Alright then, let’s get back to it," he said, determined.

He began once more the grind toward leveling up, his goal clear—reaching the first limit cap at Level 100. After that, one had to complete a special trial before they could progress further, unlocking the path to Level 101 and beyond.

Rhys didn’t get far before something caught his eye—a flicker of movement in the dense fog ahead. As he stepped closer, the trees thinned slightly, revealing a grim sight.

A group of goblins moved through the cursed forest—but not just any goblins.

"Blasted grey goblins?" Rhys narrowed his eyes.

Their skin was ashen, mottled with black scars and purple rot, and their eyes glowed with a sickly green hue. Around their necks hung crude talismans made from bone and rotten bark, pulsating faintly with dark energy. These weren’t regular monsters—they were corrupted variants.

Rhys clenched his fists. "If these guys are here, then that means... the Shaman must not be far."

He remembered the lore from one of the game’s forums. Grey Goblins were followers of the God of Decay, H’med, a forgotten deity banished during the early wars of the Ancients. Their presence usually heralded a Shaman World Boss—powerful, deranged, and deadly. One had been spotted deep in another corner of this same forest a few weeks ago.

"Can’t risk letting them multiply," he muttered, eyes scanning the enemy group—five of them, armed with rusted daggers and cracked wooden staves.

"Puddle," he whispered. "Let’s clean up."

[Skill Activated: Swift Cut]

Rhys blurred forward, sword gleaming as he slashed through the nearest goblin’s neck. The creature barely had time to shriek before its body hit the ground in two pieces.

[Puddle casts: Shadow Tendrils]

Dark vines burst from the ground, wrapping around two of the goblins and pulling them back, slowing their movement and dealing continuous damage.

Another goblin charged him, shrieking in a strange tongue, but Rhys sidestepped and countered with a smooth [Vertical Slash], cleaving its chest open.

The last two goblins tried to flee—one dropped its staff and ran into the mist.

[Puddle casts: Aqua Lance]

A pressurized spear of water launched forward, piercing the fleeing goblin’s back and impaling it into a nearby tree. The last one barely managed a few steps before a Light Bullet from Puddle ended its life with a glowing burst.

Silence returned. The corrupted goblin corpses slowly dissolved into cursed mana dust.

Rhys exhaled. "That was too organized for just a wandering patrol..."

He knelt beside one of the corpses. There, etched faintly into its skull, was a sigil he recognized—the Mark of H’med.

Rhys narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the clearing, the corrupted mist still swirling lightly where the grey goblins had fallen.

"So the God of Decay really does have roots here too... Then I better be ready."

He stood, gripping his blade, tension still crackling in his muscles. But then, a more grounded thought surfaced.

"Though... I don’t think a World Boss would be here, or this place’s level cap wouldn’t just be 80," Rhys mumbled, glancing at the quest area info at the corner of his HUD. "No way they’d let a World-tier monster roam freely this early in the forest."

He took a deep breath and looked back at the faint sigils etched on the goblin corpses.

"So, it must be just a tribe... maybe a lower-tier group of the God of Decay’s followers. Probably with a minor Shaman leading them."

Still, that didn’t mean he could take them lightly. Even low-tier shamans had dangerous curses and summoning rituals. If left unchecked, they could taint the entire forest over time.

Puddle, still perched loyally on his shoulder, made a soft kyuuu noise, sensing the tension in Rhys’s voice.

Rhys nodded. "Yeah, I know, buddy. We’ll clean this up before it becomes a real problem."

He opened his minimap. A small patch of fog pulsed faintly to the northwest—an undiscovered subzone.

"Let’s head there next. If there’s a shaman around here, I bet it’s hiding in that direction. Maybe we’ll find a mini-boss."

As he turned toward the shadowed path, Puddle shimmered, its core glowing gently. The path ahead was overgrown, twisted, and humming with the faint signature of decay magic.

New Objective Unlocked: Investigate the Source of Corruption.

– Clear the Grey Goblin Shaman’s Nest

– Optional: Purify 5 Totems of H’med (0/5)

– Recommended Level: 58–65

– Rewards: ???

Rhys smirked.

"Looks like we found ourselves a little side quest."

And with that, he advanced deeper into the cursed forest, his aura sharp and ready.

The further Rhys and Puddle ventured into the shadow-laced grove, the thicker the air became. The faint scent of rot wafted through the trees, and the once-green undergrowth was now tinted with hues of ash and gray.

[ Passive Skill Triggered: Mana Essence Flow – You resist the effects of minor decay zones by 40% ]

Even the wind here whispered with unease.

Puddle let out a cautious kyuuu, its body dimming slightly in reaction to the corrupted mana. Rhys reached up and gave the slime a quick reassuring pat.

"I know, it’s heavier here... but we are resistant to it."

He slowed his pace, crouching behind a thicket of thorny vines as faint chanting drifted from up ahead. In a clearing, about fifteen meters away, stood a twisted stone altar. Surrounding it were a group of Grey Goblins, each one with faded war paint made from ash and blood.

In the center, a larger goblin hunched over the altar, its back covered in rotting bones and talismans. A crooked staff rested against its shoulder, topped with a shriveled eye embedded in crystal.

[ Elite Monster Identified: Grey Goblin Shaman – Lv. 64 ]

[ Minor Decay Ritual In Progress – 67% Complete ]