Minori accepted the object from Blinmuguo, his expression calm but his heart watchful.
It was a simple bone pendant, strung crudely on a vine rope.Unlike Blinmuguo himself—whose body and gear were filthy from the jungle—the surface of this ancient artifact was surprisingly clean.
At first glance, Minori had thought it was nothing.Only after closer inspection did he notice it.
A faint, pale green glow pulsed beneath the surface of the bone.
—The unique radiance of a magic item.
—
"This is made from the bones of a great-horned elk," Blinmuguo said in a reverent tone, gesturing animatedly with his thick fingers.
The goblin's excitement was almost pitiful to watch.
He continued:"The great-horned elk is a monster from the deep forests. Its horns—huge, like this..."Blinmuguo spread his arms in a wild, exaggerated arc.
Minori listened silently, analyzing the creature's words.
From Blinmuguo's rambling explanation, the truth became clear.
The great-horned elk was a native magical beast of the Tob Forest, born with the instinctive ability to traverse dense jungles effortlessly.
This pendant, crafted from its remains, carried the same ability.
Jungle Traversal.
A magic effect categorized under faith-based spells, similar to "Camouflage."
Minori recognized it immediately.
In YGGDRASIL, there had been a low-tier divine spell called Forest Crossing.
He couldn't remember precisely whether it was third or fourth tier—but that didn't matter now.
The important part was its function:
Ignore all movement penalties caused by natural vegetation.
To be able to move freely in a jungle without being slowed by undergrowth, tangled roots, or low-hanging branches—Such an ability was priceless in a place like the Great Tob Forest.
Minori's fingers tightened slightly around the bone pendant.
His mind was already made up.
He had no intention of returning it.
Without a word, he coiled the vine rope several times around his left wrist.There was no need to wear it at the neck—Magic items merely needed to be properly "equipped" to activate.
This crude vine was irrelevant.
The bone itself was the core of the magic.
"Enough chatter," Minori said coolly, lifting his gaze to Blinmuguo.
"It's time to get to business."
Blinmuguo flinched at the sudden change in atmosphere.
He gave a weak, confused nod.
Minori's lips curled into a faint, predatory smile.
"You're selecting goblins from the outer forest, yes?" he said softly."That must mean you know the locations of every goblin tribe around here."
The goblin's yellow eyes widened.
Blinmuguo instinctively realized where this conversation was going.
"I want you," Minori continued, voice dangerously gentle, "to guide me."
During the past half-month, Minori had relied on random exploration to hunt goblins.
The Great Tob Forest was simply too vast.
Even with his knowledge of monster spawn patterns from YGGDRASIL, actual navigation here was slow and painful.
It had been acceptable before reaching level 10.Killing goblins and weak monsters yielded steady progress—perhaps 100 or 200 experience per day.
But now—
To reach level 11, he needed five thousand experience points.
At his current pace, even an entire month wouldn't be enough.
He needed efficiency.
And what better guide than a goblin who already knew every camp and tribe in this region?
Blinmuguo tried to speak, stammering.
"Human great sir, you—please—you can't—if you kill me—!"
Terror twisted the goblin's words into near incoherence.
Its instincts screamed that death was inevitable.
—
Minori sighed lightly.
"This isn't a negotiation," he said.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and stomped viciously on Blinmuguo's ankle.
A sickening crunch echoed through the trees.
"AAHHHH!!"
The goblin's howl of agony shattered the forest's stillness, sending flocks of birds screaming into the air.
—
After a few minutes of "persuasion,"Blinmuguo broke.
The goblin sobbed and whimpered, quickly revealing the nearest goblin tribe's location.
Satisfied, Minori slung the wounded goblin over his shoulder like a sack of meat and began moving.
He advanced through the forest at startling speed.
The effect of the Forest Crossing magic was immediate.
Bushes, vines, brambles—all seemed to melt aside before him.
There was no resistance.No sound.
His agility, previously blunted by the dense undergrowth, now unleashed its full power.
He became a silent phantom.
Minori combined the Forest Crossing ability with the stealth techniques he had refined in YGGDRASIL—using Camouflage, natural terrain masking, and careful movement.
Unless someone had magical detection abilities, they would never see him coming.
—
No wonder Blinmuguo had been able to stalk him for so long without detection.
Without Forest Crossing, even a creature with lower agility would move silently through these woods.
What followed—
Was a massacre.
—
Guided by Blinmuguo's desperate directions, Minori systematically exterminated tribe after tribe.
No goblin escaped his blade.
He even wiped out a large goblin tribe consisting of over two hundred goblins and five ogres.
Without Forest Crossing, facing five ogres would have been risky.
Minori might have been forced to withdraw temporarily.
But with the jungle no longer impeding him—
He danced through the battlefield like a ghost,striking, vanishing, striking again.
One by one, the ogres fell, their massive bodies toppling into the ferns.
—
After seeing an entire stronghold annihilated by Minori's hand,Blinmuguo's spirit broke completely.
The goblin no longer even pretended resistance.