Deep within a scary-looking forest, about forty goblins marched forward, giggling and cackling maliciously as they prepared themselves for yet another raid within the elf kingdom.


    These goblins were simr to the green little monsters that were popr in novels, games, and animes.


    Each of them was a small, ugly, humanoid monster that stood barely above three feet.


    They had scrawny bodies and hairless heads with massive ears and beady eyes, coupled with their twisted faces, t noses, and two sharp fangs that protruded from theirrge mouths.


    These goblins were awaiting orders from their king as the goblin king made his final preparations.


    In a matter of seconds, the Goblin king stepped out of a dark-looking cave while holding a huge sword in one hand and a horn in the other.


    Unlike the goblins it was in charge of, the goblin king was six feet tall and it looked a lot more muscr and intimidating than them.


    With its mind set on intercepting a group of merchants that were trying to transport some fruits and vegetables to the capital, the goblin king led his subordinates toward their destination for the day.


    However, while it was leading the group of goblins, the goblin King suddenly noticed an arrow madepletely out of ice, aiming straight at its face.


    The goblin king swiftly reacted in time to parry away the arrow heading straight towards it.


    Seeing this, Orion became impressed.


    ''It seems the rumors about this goblin king having the strength of a rank nine knight might actually be true.''


    ''It''s body seems to be oozing miasma.''


    ''The miasma also looks like it''s oozing out of the sword and horn it is holding.''


    ''Those are definitely magical artifacts,'' Orion thought to himself and he was now certain that the source of strength of the goblin king had to be the magical artifacts it was holding.


    ''But they''ve been corrupted by the miasma oozing out of them.''


    ''Are these two artifacts the only source of power for the goblin king?'' Orion pondered about this before he suddenly noticed the little goblins holding their weapons firmly as they prepared themselves for battle.


    Some were holding clubs while others were holding a short sword.


    Everyone turned in the direction the arrow came from and they noticed Orion standing in front of them with ten ice arrows hovering above his head.


    Orion was clearly prepared to attack the goblins just as they were ready to fight him as well.


    He swiftly activated his appraisal skill to check out the details of the goblin king in front of him.


    The goblin king was the only monster he was interested in.


    The other little goblins were of no concern to him because each of them had the strength of a rank two beast, so he could easily kill them with a flick of his finger.


    ====


    Name:- Goblin King


    Race:- Hobgoblin


    Monster Rank:- Rank 9.


    [Strength:- 199]


    [Agility:- 101]


    [Charisma:- 10]


    [Vitality:- 50]


    [Intelligence:- 70]


    ======


    Looking at the details of the goblin king,  Orion could see that the monster was really a rank nine beast with quite unimpressive attributes. This meant that Orion could easily take down this monster if he were to engage in a battle with the Goblin king.


    It had been years since Orion noticed that he could appraise beasts and monsters lower than his rank.


    It all started when he entered his first dungeon.


    His first opponent in the dungeon had been a slime and Orion had a thought that he should try using his appraisal skill to see if he could see the details of the slime, and to his surprise, he was really able to view the details of the slime, and since then, Orion had noticed that he was able to appraise monsters lower than his rank.


    He tried appraising monsters of higher ranks as well and he noticed he was able to sessfully appraise them.


    Aside from all these, Orion could also appraise weapons and magical artifacts  to know if they were good or not.


    However, it seemed his appraisal skill was limited to only beasts and monsters, and that was when Orion finally understood the details of the appraisal skill.


    [Appraisal:- This skill allows the host to assess and evaluate the value, properties, and potential of weapons, rare materials, and artifacts. It can also be used to view a few details of a target, depending on the stage of the elf System the host has ess to.]


    At that time, he had been so focused on viewing his mother and aunt details, he never bothered to check the details of a weapon or magical artifact, and it turned out that the system was able to appraise weapons and monsters the moment the system upgraded to a Youngling Elf System.


    However, Orion wasn''t sure if he would be able to appraise his mother or anyone else once the system upgraded to its final stage.


    Leaving that aside for now, Orion refocused his attention back on the goblin king.


    The goblin king roared and five little goblins rushed towards Orion but he willed five of his arrows to aim straight at the goblins'' hearts, with each arrow lodging in the heart of the five goblins.


    A loud shriek echoed within the forest before all the dead goblins lifelessly dropped to the ground, their eyes now nk white.


    Seeing theirrades dead before them, some of the goblins took a few steps back for fear of their opponent, but the goblin king roared behind them, urging the little goblins to remain unfazed.


    However, to their surprise, they noticed Orion''s shadow underneath his feet stretching towards the deceased goblins like dark, living serpents, slithering towards the lifeless bodies.


    The dark shadow kept moving until itnded on the shadows of the dead goblins, before merging with the lifeless bodies of the goblins.


    Now, their bodies began to twist and writhe, before taking on a life of their own.


    At Orion''smand, the shadow goblins moved with an unnatural, jerky gait, lunging their weapons straight at the other goblins in front of them.