After leaving the village, the three quickened their pace. This time, the goblin settlement in the commission was not too close to Shixi Village, located roughly between several villages. That was why the villagers from multiple villages pooled their money together and sought the Adventurers Guild to handle the matter. Unfortunately, the pooled money was insufficient, causing no adventurers to accept the quest for many days until Gauss saw it. They followed the Shixi stream near the village, tracing it upstream. The flowing creek rippled and moved. Gauss was very familiar with this path. He often used handmade fish traps here in the past to catch small fish for food. Worried that other villagers might take the traps along with the fish, he usually went further to find a shore with aquatic plants for concealment before setting the traps. Life is truly astonishing... In just two hurried years, revisiting old places, his mindset and situation had completely changed. Before reaching the location described in the commission, Gauss and the others encountered villagers who had voluntarily come here to scout and gather intelligence. They weren’t from Shixi Village but probably from some nearby village. A young adult man rode a short-legged horse, holding a homemade spear. He wore no armor but had layered clothing with other materials as inner protection, a straw hat woven from willow twigs on his head, and a wooden pot lid repurposed as a shield in his hand. Though it looked somewhat comical, this gear was quite decent for an ordinary villager. When he saw Gauss and his group rapidly approaching, he instinctively urged the short-legged horse to move away. Gauss approached him. “Are you a local villager? The three of us are an adventurer team contracted to exterminate the goblins here,” Gauss introduced himself first. Upon hearing this, the young villager holding the spear breathed a sigh of relief. A look of surprise immediately appeared on his face. These past days, he had been on guard here to prevent the goblins from launching large-scale attacks on surrounding villages. If there were any signs of a “large army mobilizing,” he would rush ahead to inform other villages. He had been anxious for several days and finally welcomed adventurers truly capable of handling the problem. Though he carried a weapon himself, he could only act as a scout; fighting goblins alone was far beyond his ability. More than thirty goblins posed a considerable threat, requiring a well-coordinated, experienced adventurer team to succeed in the hunt. The team before him... His gaze rested on the equipment of Gauss’s three members, then suddenly caught sight of their adventurer badges representing their ranks. A team of this level was taking a commission worth only twenty silver coins? At first, he could hardly believe it, then his face lit up with wild joy. No problem now—this was really no problem! Though he couldn’t understand the reasons, as in his knowledge, even hiring any one of them would never be possible with just twenty silver coins. But... having such a professional team, and not even rookies, coming to clear the goblin nest was absolutely a sure success, impossible to fail. “Yes, three adventurers, I am from Linjian Village,” the young villager respectfully replied. “I’m here today to serve as scout.” “Then show us the direction of the goblin tribe,” Since someone was available to ask, Gauss could save some effort. “Why don’t I lead you, esteemed adventurers?” The young villager suppressed his fear and excitement as he said. Actually, if it were an ordinary low-level adventurer team, he would never have made this offer. That would be too risky and could cause trouble for the adventurers. But seeing these people before him, he knew the little green skins couldn’t harm him. He could also confirm the goblin tribe’s destruction and watch how true professionals fought. For a would-be adventurer about to start pursuing his dream, this was a rare opportunity. Maybe he could even learn valuable monster-slaying experience from them. Gauss glanced at the young villager’s eager eyes, thought for a moment, then nodded. “All right, then we’ll leave it to you.” This situation was different from Xisero’s. This person was an adult and could take responsibility for his actions. With them present, there was no risk. Led by the young villager in front, Gauss’s group entered the shallow forested wetlands. Soon, they saw various signs of goblin habitation in a clearing before a cave. Goblins never cared about hygiene—feces, various animal bones, and scattered stones were everywhere, accompanied by a strong stench. Gauss was most familiar with this environment. “I’ll go in alone. You wait here for me,” Gauss said decisively after scanning the surroundings. “All right,” Aria nodded. “By the way, has anyone been captured recently?” Gauss asked the villager beside him. While they spoke, Serlandul quickly cast a blessing spell on Gauss. At the same time, the pale green Scale Powder Butterfly on Aria’s shoulder flew over Gauss’s head, scattering invisible, transparent scales. Under the young villager’s gaze, Gauss’s figure slowly disappeared. Invisible? No... what kind of trick was this? The young villager blinked and slowly opened his mouth. Though he had high hopes for Gauss’s team, this magically mysterious phenomenon still left this young man from a remote village dumbfounded. Completely vanished, Gauss approached three goblin scouts stationed on the empty ground. A nimble dagger appeared in his hand. Under the Scale Powder Butterfly’s invisibility, even when he was right in front of them, the three goblins showed no reaction. Only one goblin cast a glance toward Gauss but quickly withdrew after seeing nothing but air. Most creatures, even humans, instinctively trust their eyes. So, although the Scale Powder Butterfly’s invisibility was purely visual, its power was actually stronger than one might imagine. Gauss looked at the positions of the three goblins. Suddenly, he exerted force with his feet and vanished instantly from the spot. With his dagger flying, bright crimson blood suddenly burst from the throats of the three goblins. Before they could make any sound, they were beheaded in a daze. After silently dispatching the goblin scouts, Gauss looked toward the cave. The environment inside was even worse than outside, the ground covered in a mix of urine and feces. Goblins were filthy creatures; often, even after killing them, one would be disgusted by various aspects. Therefore, many adventurers refused to accept goblin commissions. Imagine finishing a hunt for some powerful elite monster and resting several days, then suddenly feeling like taking a low-level quest nearby to relax and practice. Would anyone choose the goblins, whose very sight would make the body and mind uncomfortable? Most wouldn’t, except for a weirdo like Gauss. At this moment, Gauss glanced down at the thick layer of feces on the ground and smiled. Judging by the goblins’ appearance time and the cave’s size, this feces indicated there were obviously more than thirty goblins inside. Ordinary low-level adventurers would probably curse. He’d take on as many ordinary goblins as appeared. Besides, it was his own hometown; he couldn’t say anything too bad. Though satisfied with the goblin numbers, Gauss had no intention of entering. It wasn’t about danger but pure laziness. He took out the White Wand. In the blink of an eye, Gauss consecutively cast the two cantrips. Large clouds of swirling poison gas surged forward, pushed by the air currents manipulated by Gust, flooding into the cave. The White Wand enhanced the effects of both cantrips. Gauss even faintly felt that if he studied longer, he might combine the two effects into a kind of first circle spell: Poison Wind, instead of alternating two cantrips. But now was not the time for experimenting with combo spells. As pale green poisonous mist slowly filled the spacious cave, strange movements quickly arose inside. Gauss was in no hurry. After upgrading the Hundred Bone Staff into the White Wand, Poison Spray’s toxicity increased significantly. If the goblins didn’t come out, they would all soon die inside from poison. This saved him much effort. No matter the method, as long as the goblins were killed, it was enough. Soon, a few scattered kill notifications appeared before Gauss’s eyes. After the kill notifications, the sound of rapid footsteps poured out from inside. Also appeared were goblin faces. But before they stepped out to look for the enemy, Suddenly, the air in the distance ignited with scarlet extinguishing light. With the flashing crimson glow, a surging fan-shaped blaze burst forth, quickly setting fire to the ground near the cave entrance, creating a thick wall of fire blocking many goblins. A blazing fire path several meters long and the rushing, scorching heat formed an impassable barrier. This was no ordinary flame but a magical high-temperature blaze. Even the bravest goblins dared not cross it. The goblins at the cave entrance stamped their feet in panic. Poison gas spread endlessly around them, and in front was the impenetrable fire wall. Aria and the others also arrived at the cave entrance, appearing beside Gauss’s slowly materializing figure. The raven took to the sky. “I’ll have Eck check around for other caves or hidden passages,” Aria said cautiously to ensure nothing was missed. After all, this was Gauss’s hometown; it was best to avoid any escaping goblins. Like weeds, even a single goblin could breed an entire tribe. “I’ll go check around too,” Serlandul said, preparing to inspect further since he had no other tasks. The young villager beside Gauss listened to the goblins’ pained cries through the firelight, his face full of daze. So simple? The goblin tribe, considered a formidable enemy, was about to be wiped out without resistance? He didn’t see their past evil and ferocity but only a group of desperate green-skinned little devils. He glanced sideways at Gauss, feeling goosebumps all over from excitement. Is this a professional? Effortlessly, without even showing themselves, the goblins were exterminated. Soon, the anguished cries lessened. Except for a few arrows piercing the flames and several charred goblins collapsing at the cave mouth, there was no other movement. The flames slowly died down. After all dust settled, a large group of goblins lay fallen before the cave passage. Between dying by fire or poison, most chose the latter. At least they avoided the intense pain of burning, quietly dying in the silent poison gas. To be absolutely sure, in case a particularly resilient goblin survived the poison, Gauss released the Clay Spiders. One white and three brown large spiders quickly rushed into the cave. Their sharp, blade-like limbs swiftly pierced the goblins’ chests and hearts, bringing back severed left ears as proof. This commission was finally completed smoothly! Gauss looked at his status panel. Including the initial three goblin scouts, that totaled 44. A somewhat ominous number. Gauss looked at the prompt messages with a pleased expression. “You have accumulated 1000 goblin kills. Title [Goblin Killer] upgraded to [Goblin Slayer].” “Detected species [Goblin] as the first monster species with kills exceeding one thousand. Set this species as the main extermination target? Note: There can only be one main extermination target, and it cannot be changed later. Please choose carefully!!!” After reaching one thousand cumulative goblin kills, the title upgraded. Gauss had actually anticipated this. But the next prompt surprised him a little. Main extermination target? What is this? What effect does it have? If kills exceed one thousand, it qualifies. Only one species can be selected? Does that mean once chosen, even if kills for other monsters reach thousands, they cannot become the main target? Gauss hesitated slightly. His intuition told him this choice was very important. Like in some video games he played in a past life, some choices didn’t matter, but certain key decisions directly affected endings and world lines. He vaguely felt the same now. Even the voices of Aria and others grew slower and farther away. Time seemed to freeze; the entire world paused, waiting for his decision. Updates are released by 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝗇𝗲𝘵 At this point, what was there to hesitate about? Gauss shook his head with a wry smile. In his understanding, nothing was more suitable as an extermination target than goblins! He would completely annihilate the goblins from this land, not leaving a single one alive! The moment he made his decision, The world resumed flowing, and a mysterious force seemed to part the clouds above. Sunlight poured through the clouds, shining upon Gauss. He felt an invisible majesty watching him. Not a demon, not a deity, but a higher-dimensional noble will. “Species [Goblin] has become the main extermination target!” “Reward obtained: Recognition from the noble.” “Main extermination target reward: Goblin Slayer achievement unlocked: Intelligence +1, Strength +1, Constitution +1.” Golden text flashed before Gauss’s eyes. Then a mysterious power poured into his body from above. The warm, burning current surged rapidly through his limbs, organs, and brain, continuously releasing comforting energy, making him feel indescribably good. Three attribute points increased at once, and for Gauss at this moment, these were the three most important attributes. The boost was immense! Gauss’s spirit seemed to pierce through some barrier, the whole world renewing again. At the same time, his muscles and internal organs felt like they had been sculpted by countless invisible surgical blades, presenting a new, strong form.